Summer Proposal
by Jem1
Summary: Hermione comes to visit Harry during the summer, his past is revealed yet again, and Harry becomes more sensitive to it. H/H with a LITTLE D/H..please read and review!
1. Hermione comes to visit

Okay guys..this is my first attempt to write a Harry Potter story..and I'm not really sure how to make it indent and go to a new paragraph on this thing so if someone would be kind enuf to show me..that would be much appreciated. Anyway, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling except the plot, which belongs to yours truly. Please read and review! thank you..next chapter will be up shortly.   
  
The wind blew gently, rustling the grass outside, the flowers, and the green leaves. Sunlight hit everything in it's path, making objects give off a faint, golden glow. Birds chirped lazily and fluttered away. Inside the cottage-style home of Sirius and Narcissa Black, four people stirred in their sleep. Harry Potter was the first to wake up.  
Sunlight peeked in through Harry's half-open green shutteres. He squinted, his eyes still closed, at the glaring light. Still half-asleep, Harry reached a hand out, feeling around on his bedside table for his glasses. Slipping them on, Harry stretched and rolled out of bed, walking towards the window and staring out at the view in front of him. What he saw startled him so much, he took a couple steps closer to the window, just to be sure he wasn't dreaming. He was now fully awake, his eyes scanning the wonderful sight outside. Dark green grass, a lake off in the distance, trees rich of green leaves, and flowers, many flowers. Houses lay in the distance as well. A feeling of happiness spilled deep inside of him, and Harry gripped the edge of the windowpane. The gloomy Privet Drive view he had been so used to seeing did not meet his eyes anymore. There were no houses planted right next to each other, so close they could almost be connected. No annoying dogs, and no more smog. And best of all, no more horse-faced Aunt Petunia, surly Uncle Vernon, and big-as-a-whale cousin Dudley.  
Harry turned and looked at his closed bedroom door, knowing that just down the hallway, Sirius and Naricissa lay in their bed. He sat down at the edge of his rumpled bed, thinking for a minute. It always took him a couple minutes to remember where he was, and why he was there. Sirius and Narcissa getting married had happened so suddenly and, little by little, slowly, the whole idea had sunk into Harry's mind: Living with his godfather, living in a home where he wasn't ignored -- better yet, he was loved. But the worse thing that Harry had to get used to was the now known fact that he and Draco Malfoy were brothers.  
He got up, dressed into jeans and a t-shirt, and headed downstairs and into the kitchen, where Sirius was already sitting, reading the Daily Prophet and sipping coffea, which Harry had introduced him to just months before.   
" Good Morning, Harry," Sirius greeted him, setting down the paper as Harry entered.   
" Mornin' , Sirius," Harry said, opened the fridge and taking out a carton of orange juice. Swiftly he poured himself a glass and helped himself to two pieces of toast. He set his food on the table besides Sirius and sat down.  
" Let me do that, Harry," Sirius offered as Harry reached for the butter and knife. Harry watched as Sirius touched the tip of his wand to the knife, which cut a spat of butter and started to spread it evenly on the toast, going back and forth quickly as if an invisible hand was directing it. " You're up earlier than usual," Sirius added, turning back to his paper.  
" Hermoine's coming in on the Knight Bus today," Harry informed. He tore off a piece of the bread and popped it into his mouth, chewing quietly.  
" You two make a nice couple," Sirius commented with a sly smile, taking another sip of his coffea.  
Harry laughed and ate another chunk. " Who knew. I didn't even know she-"  
" Good morning, fellows," Narcissa said cheerfully from behind them, interrupting Harry's sentence.  
Sirius gave his new wife a smile. " Good morning, Narcissa."  
" Morning, Narcissa," Harry repeated, turning around quickly to adress the women standing by the entrance of the kitchen, still wearing her purple bathrobe. Her blonde, shiny hair was pulled up in a neat bun, and she smiled at both of them. Harry noticed that Narcissa looked much more happier and healthier compared to the Narcissa he remembered at the Malfoy Mansion, when he was stuck in the most torturous position he could ever imagine; in the body of Draco Malfoy.  
Narcissa sniffed at the air and smiled delightedly at Sirius. " Sirius, am I smelling.." she started, rushing over to the stove and peering inside the cooking pan on top if it.  
Harry sniffed at the air as well, suddenly noticing the aroma. He sniffed again. It smelled like..  
" Sausage and yams!" Narcissa squealed, sounding more like a 13 year-old girl than a young, 35 year-old mother. " Oh Sirius, our favorite Hogwarts food."  
Harry looked at the two oddly. Sausage and yams? Their favorite Hogwarts food? How weird. His eyes fell on the large magical clock hanging in the corner of the kitchen, wondering what time Hermoine would be arriving. As if the clock had read Harry's mind(it might have, you could never tell with magical clocks), it suddenly screeched out," Hermoine arriving on the Knight Bus in 10 minutes! Hermoine arriving on the Knight Bus in 10 minutes!"  
Harry jumped up from the table, almost upsetting his untouched glass of orange juice, and bolted up the staircase, taking a left towards the bathroom, he started to rush in, colliding with Dracy Malfoy from the right.  
" Watch it, Potter!" Malfoy snapped, shoving Harry off of him.  
Harry was too excited to shove back. He hurried into the bathroom, jumped into the shower, and willed himself to hurry, not wanting to be late for Hermoine's arrival.   
Just as he walked back out of the bathroom, fully clothed and rubbing a towel at his damp black hair, he heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.   
" I'll get it!" he yelled out, rushing down the stairs and making a leap for the door -- just as Malfoy walked over and opened it calmly.   
" Why if it isn't Hermione!" Malfoy said loudly, pulling her into a hug.  
" Shove off, Malfoy," Harry said through clenched teeth, pulling Malfoy off Hermione. He pulled Hermione to him and hugged her tightly.  
Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed, whispering in his ear," I missed you."  
" Hermione! We meet again," Sirius said cheerfully, walking up behind Harry and patting Hermione on the back.  
Hermione and Harry pulled away at the same time, Harry's arm resting on his girlfriend's shoulders possesively.  
Narcissa walked up behind Sirius and smiled.  
" Good morning Sirius, hello Narcissa," Hermione said politely.  
Narcissa smiled hello at Hermione then turned to Malfoy. " Draco, dear, breakfast is on the table." She took Draco's arm and pulled him gently away, nudging Sirius in the back as well. The three of them left, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the foyer.  
" Come on, I'll show you upstairs," Harry said cheerfully, taking her bags and heading up the stairs, Hermione following close behind.  
After showing her around, Hermione oohing and ahhing every now and then, Harry happily opened the door to his bedroom and stepped aside to let her in. Hermione entered and looked around, her brown eyes wide.   
" Harry, everthing is wonderful," she said, turning to face him as Harry shut the door behind them. She gave him a seductive smile. " Care to take me on a tour of the bed?"   
The smile on Harry's face turned into a wide, delighted grin as he dropped Hermione's belongings on the floor and carried her, wedding-like, over to the bed where he dropped her down gently and jumped on top of her, leaning in for a kiss.  
  
  



	2. A Question Unanswered

This part is where the subject of Harry's parents gets brought up and Draco hits on Hermione. Tsk tsk, he's a naughty boy! R/R..please.  
  
Hermione giggled and rolled over, so she was lying on the bed and Harry was lying on top of her. She felt extremely happy, and shots of pink appeared on her cheeks as Harry kissed her again and again and again. He shifted position; now lying next to Hermione on the bed. Hermione nestled in beside him, listening to the beating of his heart and watching the falling and rising of his chest as he breathed. Harry's arms wrapped around her protetctively and Hermione closed her eyes.   
The ride over from her house to Harry's on the Knight Bus was extremely neaouseating and jumpy. 10 minutes after the trip had started, Hermione was about to jump up and demand to be taken back home again, just because she felt so sick. But now, lying here besides Harry, she knew it was all worth it.   
The door to Harry's bedroom banged open, and the couple pulled apart quickly, looking over in suprise. Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorframe, looking startled and smug, as usual.  
" Why don't you two just lock the door so I don't have to walk in on this most unpleasant sight?" he suggested in his all-too familiar drawl.  
Harry's fingers gripped Hermione's arm tightly as he sat up. " And why don't you learn to knock?" he shot back.  
Sensing a shouting match between the two was about to start, Hermione jumped in quickly. " Did you need something, Draco?"  
Draco's icy blue eyes flicked over to her before turning around. " Sirius and my mum are calling you two lovebirds downstairs. It's time for lunch," he added before slamming the door shut behind him.  
" Why that little.." Harry started.  
" Harry," Hermione said quickly, placing the palms of her hands on top of Harry's chest and gently pushing him down on the bed. " We'll continue this later. Let's go eat now, I'm starving," she added, giving him a quick kiss on the lips before getting up.  
Harry nodded reluctantly and the two walked down the stairs together, hand in hand. They entered the sunny, cozy kitchen to find Sirius, Narcissa, and Draco already seated. Draco was staring glumly off into space while Sirius and Narcissa were discussing a future trip to Diagon Alley. The conversation stopped when they realized Hermione and Harry had entered.  
Hermione gulped and she felt herself blush slightly. She felt a little out of place, yet in the back of her mind, a little voice inside her head was telling here there was no need to be.  
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand and led her over to the table, where he pulled out a seat for her before sitting down himself.  
Sirius and Narcissa were staring at the two fondly, in a mother and father-ly sort of way. Hermione smiled shyly and knew she needen't be scared. Sirius was a nice guy, Narcissa seemed nice as well, and Draco..well, Draco was Draco. And even Hermione knew he could be nice as well, since she had experienced that only months before.  
  
***  
  
Harry fiddled with his silverware and with an accidental slip of his hand, his knife and fork crashed to the floor, making a loud, unearthly noise in the comfortable silence. He bent down to pick it up, noticing something underneath the table that made his blood boil.  
Draco was sitting across the table from Hermione, and his feet were slowly inching closer to hers.   
" Stupid prat," Harry muttered to himself, straightening himself up and setting his silverware back on the table. He turned to face Hermione and gave her a smile, taking one of his long legs and wrapping it over Hermione's, so if Draco succeeded in reaching his feet out far enough, he'd be playing footsy with Harry instead of Harry's girlfriend.   
Hermione gave him a suprised smile and tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear.  
Just to show Draco up, in case he was too blind to get the hint, Harry leaned over and gave Hermione a quick kiss on the lips. " Hermione," he said, loud enough for Draco to hear. He laced his fingers through hers. " Hermione love," he repeated after a second thought. " After lunch, would you like to go for a walk to see the lake? It's not far."  
" Sure, Harry. I'd love that," Hermione replied quietly, her eyes brightening.  
Harry smiled triumphantly, his eyes sweeping over to Draco, glaring. He glanced over at Sirius and Narcissa, who were staring at Hermione and Harry as if they were newly-weds just like them.  
" Lunch is almost ready," Narcissa spoke up, getting up from the table to check on the food cooking on the stove.  
Minutes later she returned, carrying a steaming pot of scalloped potatoes and another of beef stew. The five of them dug in quickly. Soon the only noise that could be heard was of five mouth's chewing and once in awhile, Sirius or Narcissa broke the silence by asking Harry, Hermione, or Draco a question.  
After helping Narcissa with the dishes, Harry escorted Hermione outside into the warm, spring air. They headed down the sidewalk, hand in hand, Hermione occasionally leaning her head against Harry's shoulder.  
" This is a really nice place, Harry," Hermione said after awhile. " I bet you're really going to like it here."  
" It definetly beats Privet Drive, that's for sure," Harry responded.   
Hermione looked up at him. " H-have you heard from your aunt and uncle?" she asked tentatively.  
" No," Harry replied. " I bet they've probably just forgotten about me," he added bitterly. He didn't care much for his aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon, anyways.   
He glanced down at Hermione who was fixing him with a sympathetic smile. " I'm sure Sirius and Narcissa will make up for it."  
" We're all adjusting," he said, swinging the hand that held Hermione's back and forth, back and forth. He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily as the gentle breeze whipped his hair around, messing it up even more.  
" I'm sure Draco's adjusting too," Hermione added casually.  
Harry froze and stopped walking, making Hermione stop in alarm. " D-do you care if Malfoy adjusts or not?" he asked through clenched teeth, dreading the answer Hermione might give him.  
" Of course I do, Harry," she replied matter-of-factly.  
Harry squeezed her hand tightly, feeling the color drain from his face.   
" Harry!" Hermione called, nudging him in the side.   
His eyes opened as he looked at her, giving Hermione a pleading look.  
" I care about Draco adjusting on friendly terms. I don't like him that way. He's just a friend." Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and squeezed tightly. " I love you, Harry."   
Harry let out a big sigh of relief before responding. " I love you too, Hermione," he said. He pulled away far enough to give her a quick kiss on the mouth. " Why don't we head back," he suggested, placing his hand on the small of Hermione's back as they turned around.  
  
***  
  
The breeze blew Hermione's chestnut brown hair off her neck, tickling it. She rubbed her neck quickly before looking up at the sky, smiling dreamily to herself.  
" Can you believe it, Harry? Next year will be our last year at Hogwarts!" Hermione sighed to herself, tugging at Harry's arm. " The years have gone by so quickly," she added sappily.  
Harry chuckled but didn't respond.   
Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, looking up at him through lowered lashes. His emerald green eyes glimmered behind his glasses. She smiled. " What do you think you'll be, Harry?"  
Harry shrugged his free shoulder, looking down at Hermione and kissing her nose quickly. " I have no idea, Mione."  
" I don't know what I want to be either," Hermione admitted, sheepishly. She stared back up at Harry, head still resting on his shoulder. " What were your parents jobs, Harry? What did they do?"  
Harry, still sensitive to the subject of his parents, tensed up, his jaw clenching. Hermione didn't notice, since her gaze was fixed on his messy black hair, wondering if it would always stay that way. Her eyes fell on Harry's lightning bolt scar and she smiled, remembering in the early years at Hogwarts how people had stared, in suprise and in awe, happy that they were standing in the midst of such a hero. She had even stared herself at first.  
" I-I don't know what they did," Harry stammered, swallowing hard. They reached the house and Harry opened the front door, standing aside to let Hermione in first. " Hermione, I've got to ask Sirius something," he spoke up, sounding urgent. " Why don't you go upstairs and wait for me in my room?" he suggested.   
" O-okay, Harry," Hermione stammered, wondering what was so important. She watched him walk through the kitchen and disappear.  
Hermione made her way upstairs slowly and was just about to turn the knob on Harry's bedroom door when a picture to the left of her caught her eye. Hermione turned and walked closer to it. The picture, placed in a beautiful gold frame, was of Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter, on their wedding day. They waved at Hermione cheerfully as she approached.  
Hermione, wondering if she should wave back or not, studied the picture closely, first looking at James Potter. She smiled to herself as she noticed his unruly black hair, his glasses, and his wide grin. Harry is getting to look so much like his father, she thought. The black tuxedo James wore made him look just positively handsome. Her gaze then fell on Lily Potter. She knew Harry's mother was pretty, but she didn't know just how much. The white wedding gown and veil blended in perfectly with Lily's emerald green eyes( just like Harry's), and her long red hair. She looked radient and happy.  
" I told them they should put a picture of my side of the family up, but Sirius and even my mum refused," came a voice behind her.  
Hermione whipped around, heart beating fast in suprise. Draco was leaning against his doorway, a smug smile on his face.  
" I-I'm sure they'll place pictures of..of your family somewhere else," she stammered.  
Draco shrugged his shoulders and straightened, taking a step closer. " I mentioned the fact that there should be a picture of them on their wedding day, but they declined that suggestion too."  
Hermione took a subtle step backwards, anxious at how close Draco was getting to her. She wondered where Harry was. " Maybe their picture is in..um..their room." Beads of perspiraton were already starting to form on her forehead.  
" Where's your loverboy, Potter?" Draco asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He took another tantalizing step closer.  
Hermione backed away and bumped against Harry's closed bedroom door. Behind her back, she felt around for the knob, the cold surface of it comforting against her clammy hand. " He went to go ask Sirius a question. He'll be back in a jiff."  
" Well then, we don't have much time, do we?" Draco asked, so close, she could feel his breath on her throat.   
Just as Draco started to lean in for a kiss, Hermione twisted the knob open and burst into Harry's room, breathing hard. She watched as Draco fell flat on his face, lying there for a minute before getting up again. He glared at Hermione with his steely blue eyes.   
" I get the hint. You could have just told me," he muttered, turning around and walking away, just as Harry hurried back up the stairs.  



	3. Hogwarts Trunk, Wedding Album and Crying

Thank you to the two people who reviewed! Please review if you haven't..even if it is constructive criticism, I enjoy that too. This is kind of a story off of Draco Dormiens. If you don't enjoy sappiness and Harry crying, then don't read this part. Sorry if my idea of Harry's parent's Wedding Album is a little off..that's how I think it. Enjoy! and R/R please!  
  
***  
  
Harry watched Draco enter his own bedroom, shooting a curious glance at Hermione before closing the bedroom door shut behind him. " What was Malfoy doing here?" he asked.  
Hermione shrugged her shoulders, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. " He..he was showing me how to open your door. The knobs are so different from the ones at my own house, I got confused," she said in a rush.  
Harry looked at her oddly before walking over to his closet. He opened it, knelt down, and half his body disappeared inside as he rummaged for something in the back.  
" What are you looking for, Harry?" Hermione asked, taking a seat on his bed.  
Harry didn't answer, instead he pulled out a large green and gold trunk, shoving it across the floor so Hermione could see as well.  
" It's your Hogwarts trunk!" she exclaimed in awe, remembering how the chest always stood at the foot of Harry's bed.  
Harry nodded and took out a rusty gold key from under the mattress. He unlocked the trunk and opened it, it's hinges groaning and creaking as if it hadn't been opened in awhile.   
Hermione leaned in closer, peering inside. On the top of the pile of items were all of Harry's Hogwarts books, a few eagle feather quills, and a couple pieces of parchment. Hermione frowned, realizing that Harry hadn't done his holiday work yet. She, on the other hand, had finished it on the second day back from Hogwarts, with more pages than required.  
" Harry, would you like help with your homework?" she asked. " Because I finished mine much earlier and I certainly could help you with yours."  
Harry chuckled and glanced up at her, sitting on his haunches. His eyes twinkled as he smiled.   
" Mione," he said affectionately, leaning over to chuck her under the chin. " You're my girlfriend, not my tutor." He gave her a quick kiss before sitting back down again.   
Hermione blushed at the compliment, and continued to watch as Harry placed his books on the floor. What appeared next in the trunk Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which used to belong to his father. Dumbledore had given it to him during their first year at Hogwarts. Harry absently set the cloak aside as well and took out an empty owl cage.  
" I forgot about this!" he said cheerfully, setting it aside on the floor. The cage belonged to Harry's snowy white owl, Hedwig. She had accompanied him to the new house, but soon after had flown off to deliver a letter to Dumbledore, and had not showed up since.  
" Harry, it's your Magmum 3000!" Hermione exclaimed in delight, reaching over and picking the broomstick out of the pile gently. The Magmum 3000 had been given to Harry as a gift from Siriuse, Hermione, and Ron who each pitched in their share to present to Harry on his birthday. The broomstick was the best one ever made so far.   
" She's a beaut," Harry added, reaching over to touch the broomstick handle. He and Hermione continued to go through item after item, and, after making piles of Hogwarts robes, extra wands, a couple ink bottles, some Shooting Snaps, a sugar quill, and more items he had accumalated from Hogsmeade and throughout the year, Harry finally pulled out what he was looking for: a large, lacy, photo album.  
" It's your parent's wedding album," Hermione realized, as Harry held it as he sat down next to her. He opened it to the first page, and laid it on Hermione's lap so they could both see it.   
The picture Hermione had seen in the upstair's hallway was now facing up at them, a smaller replica of it. Still, James and Lily Potter smiled and waved happily.  
Hermione sat still as she watched Harry trace his finger along the outline of his parent's faces. She rested her head gently on his shoulder and patted him on the arm, comfortingly. Kissing him on the cheek, she waited until Harry turned to the next page.  
  
***  
  
___My mum_, Harry told himself after he had flipped to the next page of the photo album. The first picture was of Lily Potter, standing by herself in her wedding gown, holding up a slim glass of champaigne. She smiled, showing off the dimple Harry also had in his left cheek. He watched as she raised her champaigne glass and mouthed the words , Hello everyone!   
" Hello mum," he muttered, his gaze moving down to the next picture.  
" Oh Harry.." Hermione murmered next to him.   
He jumped, forgetting that she was even there. Giving Hermione a wary smile, he studied the next picture, which displayed James and Lily dancing, grinning madly at each other.  
" They look very happy, Harry," Hermione said, touching his arm.   
" They were," Harry replied. " Until Voldemort killed 'em," he added, choking on his words.  
Hermione fell silent as Harry turned to the next page. Here, James was arm in arm with Sirius, his best man giving him bunny ears behind his head. He smiled sadly. At least he still had Sirius. The people in the picture proceded to beat each other up playfully, until Lily came rushing over, her mouth set in a stern line. When she glanced at James, and then at Sirius, she burst out laughing.   
Hermione let out a small giggle next to him, and Harry couldn't help but smile. He wrapped the arm not holding the album around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. It was comforting to know that she was right by him.   
The next picture made Harry clench his fingers tightly into fists. Anger boiled within him, bubbling over and filling his whole body. He tensed up, his jaw set, the picture going in and out of focus as he tried to stay calm. The small, slightly round, Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, the one who had spilled the Secret to Voldemort, who in turn killed his parents, was sitting next to Lily and James at a table, smiling. James then leaned over and put his arm around Peter, waving.   
" Oh Harry.." Hermione mumbled again, this time in a different tone. She saw it too. Peter had flinched, spots of red forming on his face, and practically forced himself to look up into the camera.   
" That damn Wormtail.." Harry snapped, scratching Peter's face with the tip of his fingernail.   
" He was a spy all along, Hermione! He told Voldemort where my parents were hiding..and he killed them! He damn killed them, Hermione! My parents-" Harry stopped, catching his breath, and realized tears were now spilling down his cheeks. He took a deep breath and continued. " My parents probably died, thinking Sirius spilled the secret, when all along it was that ruddy Pettigrew!" His voice had grown an octave by the end of his sentence.   
" Harry...Harry..it's alright. Calm down," Hermione said frantically, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. She kissed his forehead. " I know what he did, Harry," she whispered, patting his back. " Calm down, Harry.."  
Harry hugged Hermione, clutching her to him as close as he could. He needed the support; he felt as if he was going to break down any minute now..And then he did. He start to cry, sobbing into Hermione's shoulder, wetting her blouse. His body shook violently as tears streamed down his cheeks, blurring his glasses and spilling down his chin and onto the floor.   
" I'll never see them again, Hermione! Ever! Because of him! I should have killed him.." he blubbered, referring to the time when, during their third year at Hogwarts, he, Hermione, and Ron had realized that the ugly rat Ron had as a pet was actually Peter Pettigrew, in Animagi form. Afterwards Harry had the choice to kill Peter then or turn him in to the Ministry, and he had stupidly decided to turn him in instead of letting Lupin and Sirius kill him right then and there. Then, in the midst of confusion, Peter turned back into a rat and scampered off, returning to Voldemort and continuing to assist him.   
" It's not your fault, Harry!" Hermione insisted, hugging him. " It's not, Harry! You realized that before, but you can't decide it is just because of a stupid picture! It's not your fault, Harry!"  
Harry opened his mouth to respond, but the two were interrupted by a loud, forceful knocking at the door.  
" Harry? Hermione?" came Sirius' voice from the other side of the door. " Are you two in there?" He knocked again.   
Harry, being unable to speak at the moment, pulled away from Hermione and sat, facing the window.   
" We're in here, Sirius!" Hermione called. She hurried to the door and opened it a crack. " We're in the middle of something though.."  
" Oh..oh, I see." Sirius chuckled. " Just checking. Forgive me.."   
Hermione closed the door again and stepped towards Harry cautiously. " Will you be all right now, Harry?" she asked.  
Harry nodded mutely, lacing his fingers together. He sighed and looked off into the distance, watching birds fly off and the sun set in the background. He turned his head to look at Hermione, who was standing awkwardly a distance away from him, looking concerned.  
" You're lucky, Mione," he said, voice cracking.  
Hermione wrinkled her nose and took a couple steps towards him. " Why's that?"  
" Your parents are alive," he muttered, before turning away again.  
  



	4. A persistent Draco, a protesting Hermion...

Thanks much to Vikky who defended me from that Jason dude who said my story sucked(and to you, Jason, I really don't think you can do any better) and who also said I was a great writer..some more Draco fooling around with Hermione and .. yep that's about it! Keep R/R please! The story might be a little weird in some parts, and might look weird, because I don't know how to italacize but I'll find out soon!  
  
" Your parents are alive."  
  
Hermione's heart broke as she heard Harry mutter the words. She wanted so badly to go over and comfort him, but, in fear that he'd start crying again and send a wondering Sirius or Narcissa back upstairs, she didn't. She swallowed, wondering what to say that would be appropriate enough at the moment.  
" You have Sirius and Narcissa," she said after awhile.  
Harry snorted and turned to face her, face stricken with remorse. " Sirius is a godfather and I don't even know how the hell I'm related to Narcissa. And besides, she's Malfoy's mum."  
" She can be kind of.." Hermione's voice trailed off, at a loss for words suddenly, which was very unusual in her case. " Kind of a ...stepmum."  
" No thanks."  
" There's nothing wrong with Narcissa!" Hermione insisted.   
" She's not my mum."  
Hermione sighed. Harry was not only feeling sad, he was being a bit annoying as well. She looked around his room, the always coming-up-with-a-right-answer student having no idea what to do. She cocked her head, her brown hair brushing past her shoulders, watching Harry's still form.   
" Look Harry, why don't we go downstairs or outside?" she suggested, opening the door. Anything to get his mind off this.  
Harry got up slowly and silently followed her out into the hall and downstairs, where they bumped into Draco in the kitchen.  
" Well, well, well..if it isn't the lovebirds," Draco said sarcastically.   
Hermione gripped Harry's hand, willing Draco not to say anything that would disturb Harry, since he was upset enough.   
" Shove off, Malfoy," Harry snapped in a low voice.  
" Is The Boy Who Lived speaking to me?" Draco asked in a mock-astounded voice. His blue eyes bugged out as he smirked, flashing his pearly whites. " The one who outlived Voldemort's evil wrath? The-"  
" Harry!" Hermione screeched as Harry released Hermione's hand and punched Draco on the side of his face with all his might. " Harry, no!"   
" Ow! You stupid prat! What the hell was that for?" Draco asked through clenched teeth, rubbing the side of his face ferociously. He glowered and started to raise his fists.  
" Watch it Malfoy, or you'll get it again!" Harry threatened loudly, his eyes flashing with anger.  
Hermione quickly grabbed his raised arms and pushed them down to his sides, holding onto them so Harry wouldn't unexpectedly punch Draco again. She shot a quick, warning glance at Draco before she talked Harry into walking out into the backyard.  
As they started to cross through the door, outside into the balmy air, Sirius came rushing in from upstairs, looking around quickly. Hermione groaned inwardly, knowing he had heard the commotion. Silently praying that whatever Sirius or Draco would say wouldn't set Harry off again, she followed Harry back into the kitchen.   
" What's going on?" Sirius asked, noticing the large, purplish bruise growing on Draco's face. His eyes fell on Harry. " Harry? Did you punch Draco?" he asked, sounding like a teacher asking a student to confess in selfishly not sharing his glue with another kid.   
Harry nodded. " He was mocking me," he protested in a quiet voice. " About Voldemort and my dad and mum."  
" I never mentioned your ruddy parents!" Draco shouted angrily.  
Hermioned pulled Harry back as her boyfriend started to make a move towards Draco. She felt so bad for him. He was becoming very sensitive to the subject of his parents. Anything having to remotely do with James or Lily Potter set Harry off.   
Sirius, noticing something odd was going on with Harry, stepped in between him and Draco.   
" Draco, go put some ice on that thing." He grimaced, using his wand to conjour up an ice pack wrapped in a dark blue cloth. Handing it to Draco, he added," You better watch that thing. By tonight it'll probably be the size of London."  
Shooting a Death Glare at Harry, Draco took the bundle and stalked off, muttering under his breath.   
" Harry, would you go outside for a moment?" Sirius asked.  
Harry nodded and walked away, leaving Sirius alone with Hermione. The minute Harry was out of earshot, Sirius turned and gave Hermione a very serious look.  
" Obviously something's going on with that boy," he said in a low voice.  
Hermione nodded. " He..he saw a picture of Peter and got all shook up," she explained timidly.   
Sirius' facial expressions tightened as he gripped the edge of the tabletop. " Where?" he asked.  
" In his parent's wedding album. Peter, with James and Lily. It was horrible, Sirius," she added, her voice dropping down to a whisper. Hermione swallowed before continuing. " Peter looked so guilty, and he actually had the nerve to flinch when James put his arm around him."  
Sirius sighed, running a hand over his face before looking at her again. " I knew this was going to happen sooner or later," he mumbled.  
Hermione frowned. What was going to happen sooner or later? She wanted to know, but decided not to ask.  
" Look, Hermione. Just try to keep Harry as calm as you can, okay? And don't let him out of your sight. Be..be a girlfriend," he added with a friendly wink. " He needs that."  
" I will," she promised before heading outside into the back. Harry sat in the gazebo off to the edge of yard, head in his hands. Taking a deep breath, Hermione walked over to him swiftly, touching him lightly on the back when she was close enough to do so.   
Harry didn't bother to lift his head, probably knowing who it was. " I hate my life," he said through his fingers.  
Hermione frowned. Hated his life? Even her? Calm down, Granger. You know he only means about his mum and dad, she thought. Yet, the words stung. She forced on a smile and sat down next to him.  
" Things will get better, Harry. Sooner or later," she assured, patting him gently on the back.  
" When exactly?" he asked, taking his hands off his face. His black glasses had been pressed right over his eyes, making him take on the appearance of a squashed routabega. " My parents are dead, Hermione. What's worse than dying?"  
" I said things will be better, Harry," Hermione reprimanded. " Not worse."  
He didn't answer.   
With a sigh, Hermione stood up. " I'm going to leave you alone," she said in a cool and collected voice. " I understand that you need time to think, so I'll just wait up in your room until you're ready to be with other people again."   
Stalking off, Hermione felt her eyes prickle with tears, but she blinked and they were gone. Harry's going through a rough time..be there for him, she told herself as she re-entered the house. It was too hard, though. Everything she said seemed to bounce off him and he twisted it into something miserable. I'll just watch Harry from his bedroom window, she reasoned with herself, climbing up the stairs. That why I keep my promise to Sirius but I'm far enough away so I won't get annoyed.   
She entered Harry's room and absently swung the door shut behind her. When she didn't hear the click of the door closing, she turned around, to be met with Draco holding the door open, giving her an unsual stare.  
" Where's Potter?" he asked, stepping into the room and silently closing the door shut behind him.  
" Draco, Harry and I are dating," she spoke up, backing away as he inched forward. " I really don't think you should be hitting on me while-"  
" Who says I'm hitting on you?" Draco breathed. He had obviously put a spell on his face, because the black and blue bruise wasn't present anymore, and Hermione smartly knew that it wasn't possible to heal on it's own so quickly, just from ice.  
" You tried to kiss me in the hall earlier today!" Hermione screeched. She backed up against a wall, as Draco slowly, but surely, crept forward.  
" Did I really?" he asked, pretending to think hard about it.  
Hermione panicked. He was acting as if he hadn't remembered or done such a thing. " Draco, I swear if you don't leave this instant, I'll-"  
" You'll what, Hermione?" he interruped. " Your loverboy Potter is outside sitting by himself. Sirius and my mum are busy doing something somewhere together. It's only you and me," he said, dropping his voice to a whisper.  
" Draco..p-please," she stammered. She tried to move away from the wall, but Draco had her cornered. He placed an arm on both sides of her, slowly lowering his face to hers. " Draco!" she protested, turning her face away, so her cheek faced him.  
" Hermione love," he whispered, touching her face and turning her to look into his eyes. " There's no need to fret. I'm not doing anything, you know."  
" Don't move any further!" Hermione demanded, raising her hands to shove him away. But he was too quick for her. Draco grabbed her hands and quickly placed them around his waist, then leaned forward and kissed her intensely.   
" Shove off, Draco!" she protested, turning her cheek so he slobbered all over it. Disgusted, but still angry, Hermione pushed him away, but Draco grabbed her close again and kissed her, moving slowly towards the bed. " Stop it!" she muttered as he trailed kisses down her neck, slowly unbuttoning her blouse.  
Hermione struggled as hard as she could against Draco's strong grip. She tried to knock his hands away as he slowly unbuttoned her blouse, but it was no use. Draco was persisent and always got what he wanted, even if it was Harry's girlfriend who didn't want him. Hermione allowed herself to get caught up in the heat of the moment, moaning happily as Draco trailed kisses down her neck. Then she fell back to reality. Very angry now -- especially since she had let Draco do that to her for just a minute -- Hermione swiftly brough her leg up to his thigh and kicked him, hard.  
" Ow!" Draco exclaimed, pulling away. His grasp on Hermione and her blouse was released, and Hermione hurried towards the door, her blouse falling. She blushed and pulled it on quickly, hands shaking as she buttoned it.  
" Hermione," Draco whined, sitting ontop of Harry's bed, rubbing his leg. " What'd you do that for?! I thought you were enjoying it!"  
Hermione saw red. Tears welled up in her eyes and a few spilled over, running down her cheeks.   
She shook violently as she spoke. " How dare you think I enjoyed it! You _forced_ me into it -- you practically bloody raped me, Draco! I am dating Harry..get that through your thick skull! I love him! You had no damn right whatsoever to hit on me!"   
Draco stared at her in disbelief. " I admitt you protested a bit. I just thought you were playing hard to get. But admitt it Hermione, you enjoyed it..even for just a munute."  
More tears spilled now, wetting her blouse. Her knees grew week, but Hermione forced herself to stand. Draco was right. More than half the time he was kissing her, she protested. But just for a minute -- for a stupid, unworthy minute, she gave in, allowing him to do what he wanted. It was only for a minute, but Hermione felt guilty enough, as if she had given in the whole time. For that one minute she had cheated on Harry, and it was the worse feeling in the world, knowing that just outside Harry was sitting, feeling glum about his parents, needing comforting, and here she was, kissing Draco while supposedly visiting Harry! They had been through all the love-hate concepts before, now was the time to stay true and loyal to each other. And she _hadn't done that_.   
" Hermione? Hermione? Why are you shaking so much?" Draco asked worriedly. He stood up and made a move to come over to her.  
" Take another step and I swear I'll kill you," she threatened through clenched teeth. Draco froze on the spot, watching in a panic as she dropped to her knees, crying uncontrollably. " I hate you, you know," she said in between sobs. " I HATE YOU."  



	5. Forgive and Forget

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! They were all very flattering, and the little comments are below this. This part is kinda sappy and everything..kind of a lot of crying..and maybe a little too over-dramatic. I didn't think it sounded right if I took some of it out, though.  
  
  
Harry sighed and lifted his head from his hands, blinking and staring out into the distance. It had grown dimmer now, he could barely see distinct objects outside. Crickets chirped and Harry felt a mosquito or two nip at his arms. He got up and headed back inside, stopping in the kitchen to get a drink of water. He needed to be all together calm before approaching Hermione, who had seemed awfully irritated with him earlier. He was calm now, and ready to accept the fact, yet again, that his parents were dead and not coming back. Harry didn't know what had hit him, maybe it was seeing Peter Pettigrew's face again, or the fact that Sirius and Narcissa were married, and he was living with them, yet, they weren't his parents, had set him off. Whatever it was, he owed an apology to Hermione, who had stood by his side all along -- until he had started to become a pessimist. She had come for a visit, taken the Knight Bus for godsake, to come and see him. It wasn't fair that he lay all her problems and make her miserable for the rest of the week. _She's only been here one day. Not even_, Harry said to himself.   
  
Harry looked up as he heard someone hurry downstairs noisily. It was Malfoy, looking tired and panicky. The bruise, Harry noticed, was gone from his face and Malfoy glanced at him with fear in his blue eyes before leaving from the front door. Harry shrugged than took a deep breath, decided it was the right time to go talk to Hermione, and headed upstairs, slowly. He paused for just a minute to stare at the picture of his parent's on their wedding day, before opening the door to his bedroom. His mouth fell open when he saw Hermione, lying face down on his bed, crying and shaking uncontrollably.  
  
" Mione," Harry said quickly, rushing over to his girlfriend's side. He gathered Hermione up in his arms, as she cried and continued to whimper. She fell against him, clutching onto his shirt as he rocked back and forth, patting her back, trying to sooth her.  
  
" I'm sorry..I'm sorry.." she wailed, tears spilling from her red and bloodshot eyes. She looked up at Harry. " I'm so sorry, Harry.." she repeated, watery.  
  
For some weird reason, Harry felt himself tense up. He held Hermione at arm's length. " Sorry for what?" he asked.  
  
Hermione whimpered and didn't respond. She buried her face into his arm again and continued to cry.   
  
Harry remembered Malfoy hurrying down the stairs quickly, looking at Harry with fear. His grip tightened around Hermione. " Hermione," he said in a steady voice. " Did Malfoy do something to you?"  
  
Hermione's cries grew louder, and Harry's heart beat quickly. I'll kill him. " What did he do to you, Mione?" he asked gently.  
  
" I'm sorry Harry.." she mumbled, looking back up at him again. She still looked beautiful, even with her tangled, messy brown hair, red and bloodshot eyes, and tear-stained face. She was the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen -- he loved her -- and if Malfoy had done anything to hurt her -  
  
" Just tell me," he pleaded, rubbing his hand up and down her arm to warm her, since she was shaking and chattering her teeth. " I won't get mad at you, Mione," he promised.  
  
Hermione shook her head and looked away. " It's all my fault."  
  
Harry waited, hoping Hermione would continue. She did. " I came up here, Harry...to w-wait for you to calm down. And he came in here, too. Harry, he cornered me into a wall..and he kissed me..again and again! I tried to shove him off me..and I protested Harry, I really did..but he was so incessant. And then-" To this, Hermione broke down crying again. She slid off Harry's lap and hugged one of his pillows to her chest, tightly.  
  
Almost shaking with anger, Harry forced Hermione to sit up straight and look him in the eye. " What else did that bastard do, Hermione?"   
  
" I let him, Harry! For just a minute..I let him! I gave in and allowed him to kiss me -- he even undressed me. Just my blouse..but..oh I hate myself! I really do.." Hermione continued to sob.   
  
Harry released his grip from Hermione and turned away in shock. She had let him? Even for just a minute, like Hermione said(and Harry believed her. He trusted her with his life), she had cheated on him? While he was outside?   
  
" I hate myself," Hermione repeated. " I told him to stop and I told him to get out of here. I told him we love each other, Harry. So he left..and you came.."  
  
Again she started to cry. Now the wails and sobs were boring into Harry's head, giving him a headache. He sighed and turned to face her, unbelieving. " Hermione-" his voice cracked. " How could you do that to me?"  
  
" I'm sorry, Harry..I really am! Please believe me! I hate myself, and I always will..and I understand if you never, ever forgive me..but it was hard, Harry it was. He was so persistant and it was only for a minute.." Hermione said in a rush.   
  
Heart breaking into a million pieces every time Hermione continued, Harry wanted to scream..throw something..but he managed to stay calm. In a low, steady voice, he looked into Hermione's eyes and said," I can't believe you'd to that to me, Hermione. But -"  
  
" I'm SO SORRY, Harry. I hate mysel -"  
  
" But," he repeated, holding up a hand to silence her. " But I understand Malfoy, and that he's a stupid, self-centered prat."   
  
Hermione fell against him. " I love you, Harry.." she whispered, for the second time that day.  
  
Harry patted her back lightly, sighing inwardly. It would be better if he just set aside the whole thing, the one-minute thing, and got angrier at Malfoy instead. Hermione apologized, and seemed really, truly sorry..and Harry believed her. That's all that mattered. He knew Hermione wouldn't be untrue again, and her untrueness had only lasted for a minute, after all.  
  
Setting Hermione gently down on the bed, Harry stood up and crossed the room, opening his door.  
  
" Harry? Where are you going?" Hermione asked, her voice raspy.  
  
" To find out where you're going to sleep. I think it's about time we get some rest," Harry replied, stepping out into the hall.  
  
He hurried downstairs, bumping into Sirius as he entered the kitchen. " Need something, Harry?" Sirius asked, another cup of coffea in his hand. The _Witch Weekly_ was folded underneath his arm.  
  
" Where's Hermione going to sleep? The guest room has a lot of our junk still in it," Harry said, following Sirius back up the stairs.  
  
" Hmm." Sirius opened the door to the guest room, which was directly in between Malfoy and Harry's room. With a wave of his wand, all the boxes and junk disappeared. Another flick, and a comfortable-looking bed appeared with a small pop, complete with a dresser and a television set. " I think that will suit her," he said with a smile, turning and heading into his room.   
  
With a sigh, Harry ran a hand through his messy black hair and entered his room again. Hermione was sitting up on the bed, looking out the window. She turned and gave Harry a tired smile.   
  
" I think I need a bit of a lie-down," she said, standing up. Harry watched as Hermione picked up her bags and walked slowly into the guest room, closing the door behind her.  
  
Harry sighed, and glanced out the window Hermione had just been looking through. They hadn't even had supper yet, but he didn't mind. He wasn't hungry. Still fully-clothed and with his glasses still on, Harry fell onto the bed and shut his eyes, hoping to forget about everything that just happened.  
  
Okay! That's the end of chapter five..still in the process of Chapter six..I'm hoping to get it done tonight because I won't be submitting another chapter until next weekend. But by that time I'll have lots to put in, don't worry.  
So! Thanks to: Cristina, Vikkey(I spelled your name wrong earlier, sorry about that), QuiggleMastr, HGW, Crystal Music, and magical*little*me. Continue R/R! Oh..and to Magical who wanted D/H..I don't know if I can promise you anything..we'll see!   



	6. Another big apology

Thank you SOO much for all the reviews! I loved every single one of them! It just made me so happy, I thought I was gonna cry! ::sniffles:: But I need to clear something up right away so no one gets confused. Draco Dormeins was written by another author, named Cassandra Claire. That is one of my favorite fanfiction stories and after reading it I wanted to try my own. The concept is kind of from hers, where Narcissa and Sirius are married and all that stuff. This is really my only first Harry Potter story I wrote. This story, Summer Proposal, is like an ''after'' story to Draco Dormeins..so I didn't write that one! Well..apologies, blah blah in this chapter..next one will be up right away.   
  
  
  
The chirping of birds outside her window forced Hermione's sleepy eyes open. She groaned inwardly and turned her head, squinting automatically as the bright sunlight hit her full force. A breeze wafted into the room, blowing wisps of hair back from her face. The wind was cool and comforting. Obviously someone had opened the window. Something fluttering in and out of sight by it made Hermione sit up slowly, rubbing her eyes.   
  
" ..Hedwig?" she said in delight, scrambling up from her bed and hurrying over to the window, the light bedsheets wrapping around her ankles. She tripped and her hands flew out instantly to catch herself. The big, snowy white owl gave hoots of panic until Hermione was able to steady herself. With a sheepish grin, she pushed open the window further, and Hedwig flew inside, landing gracefully atop Hermione's bed.  
  
" Wha..wha happened?" came a groggy voice from behind her. Hermione whipped around and smiled faintly at the sight of Harry, his clothes he had been wearing yesterday still on, his glasses askew on his head, and his hair, if possible, messier than ever.  
  
Before she could respond, Harry's half-closed eyes fell on Hedgwig, who was looking up at him expectantly. " Hedwig!" he cried out cheerfully, walking swiftly over to the bed and allowing the owl to perch on his shoulder. She gave a hoot of delight and stuck out her leg; a small piece of parchment was attached to it with gold ribbon.  
  
" Is it from Dumbledore, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking over Harry's shoulder.  
  
Harry nodded mutely. He unfolded the note and skimmed through it. Hermione quickly read it as well, before Harry folded it shut again.  
  
Dear Harry,  
You'll have to excuse this impromptu letter. Hedwig arrived looking awfully tired, and since I have no time at the moment to write a letter except this short note to you, I will send one of my owls to your home with my response. Say hello to Sirius and Narcissa for me..and Draco as well, I almost forgot!   
Hermione must be arriving soon, shouldn't she? Say hello to her for me as well.  
  
All my best,  
Dumbledore  
  
" I wonder where Dumbledore goes on holiday," Harry mused. He poked Hedwig slightly in her side; she ruffled her feathers in annoyance. " I've got some food in my room for you. It's in your cage. Go on," he added, giving his owl another poke.  
  
Hermione giggled as Hedwig nipped at Harry's ear before flying out the door and into the other room. She glanced at Harry, rather shyly, not knowing what to say next. To keep herself occupied, Hermione busied herself by gathering up the bedsheets that had fallen and piling them on the bed. Then, feeling Harry's eyes watching her every move, she continued to make her bed, just like she did every morning at Hogwarts. At home, she usually forgot. That task finished, she perched upon the corner of the newly-made bed, hands clasped tightly in her lap. Hermione looked up at Harry expectantly, but he was still hovering by the bed, mouth closed. His eyes were squinted slightly and he had a faraway expression on his face, which Hermione knew all too well. Harry was thinking.  
  
After what seemed like forever, Harry turned to Hermione, gave her a small smile, and stepped closer to her. " Are you hungry for breakfast?" he asked.  
  
Hermione nodded, took his arm, and followed him downstairs. She tried to push thoughts of yesterday in the far back of her mind, which left only a slight, buzzing noise. Hermione snapped back to attention when she felt Harry nudging her in the side, like he had Hedwig. Obviously when she tried to push thoughts of Draco kissing her and Harry looking shattered away, it was hard to concentrate.  
  
" Hermione!" Harry said loudly in her ear.  
  
Hermione jumped and pulled away, frowning. " I felt you poking me, you know," she said irritably.   
  
Harry gave her an apologetic smile. " Sorry, Mione. You looked kind of..gone for a minute."  
  
" I was," Hermione replied back shortly, following Harry into the kitchen. Sirius was the only one sitting at the table. The aroma of freshly baked coffea filled her nostrils as she took a seat across from Harry's godfather.   
  
" Good morning you two," Sirius greeted cheerfully, pushing a plate of bacon towards them. " I received a letter from Remus today, you know. He's doing fine. I think Dumbledore's trying to talk him into accepting another job at Hogwarts.."  
  
Hermione was barely listening. She wondered where Draco was. Who cares, she told herself angrily, hands clenching into fists underneath the table, remembering what the jerk had done to her yesterday. I hope I don't see him for the rest of this week, she thought, her eyes narrowing slightly, yet she knew it wasn't possible. Hermione glanced at Sirius quickly, who was now in deep conversation with Harry about how the Wizarding World treated Werewolves( " It's not fair, how they're treated so unkindly."   
" Yes, well, you know how others are. Narrow-minded, and all." ). She wondered why Sirius had to go and marry Narcissa Malfoy in the first place,anyway. Yes, it was true, the two loved each other. And Narcissa really was a sweet, kind person. But a nice, loving mother didn't mean nice, loving kids all the time. Who knew how Narcissa got stuck with a cold-hearted, disgusting prat like Draco for a son. He probably got his attitude from Lucius Malfoy's side of the family. Stop that. You don't mean it, she reprimanded herself. You know Draco can be a nice person when he wants to be. You're just angry because of what he did to you. Another voice inside Hermione's head shot back, Of course you should be angry after what he did! He knows you're with Harry! He doesn't care! All he wants is what's best for him!  
  
" Hermione? Mione, you there?" came Harry's voice from what seemed miles away.   
  
" You all right, Hermione?" added Sirius' voice.  
  
Hermione jumped back into reality, startled. She looked sheepishly from Harry to Sirius and back again. " Yes, I'm all right. Must've dozed off for a minute," she apologized. To show Sirius and Harry that she was in fact, sane and able to think right, Hermione ate a few pieces of bacon and drank some pumpkin juice with no trouble, giving them a wide smile afterwards.  
  
Harry chuckled and got up from the table, Hermione doing the same thing. They excused themselves from the table and Hermione followed Harry upstairs. She wasn't paying attention again and smacked into Harry's back, Harry, who had stopped in front of his room, turned and steadied his girlfriend, looking at her curiously.  
  
" Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, his voice low.  
  
Hermione nodded quickly and looked away, feeling shots of pink growing on her face. She really needed to start paying attention, or else Harry was bound to send her to St. Mungo's Hospital for the Ill-minded and Un-cured. She glanced up; Harry was staring at her with the utmost concern that Hermione's heart squelched. Barely thinking, Hermione pulled Harry into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Harry looked at her in suprise then, smiling gleefully, sat atop the bed and patted the seat behind him.  
  
" Is this what you've been thinking about, have you?" Harry asked her, smiling wickedly.   
  
Hermione shook her head, smiling. She went to sit beside Harry, but pushed him away when he moved in to kiss her. " Harry, I need to tell you something," she said, her voice quiet and serious.   
  
Harry's eyes widened slightly behind his glasses, and his face paled. He looked down at his hands, swallowed hard, then looked back up into Hermione's eyes. Nodding slightly, he said," Okay..I'm ready."  
  
Chuckling to herself at the way Harry was acting, Hermione scooted in closer to him. " Harry..my mind's been on other things...about -- about what happened yesterday. And I --"  
  
Harry cupped his hand over her mouth quickly. Hermione fell silent and he released it.   
" Hermione, I've been doing some thinking too. And..and I decided to just forget about it..shall we? There's no use worrying about it so much..it's done with, right? And besides, Malfoy's really the one at fault here."  
  
" But Harry, I still feel bad about -- "   
  
" It's alright, Hermione. I know you feel bad. In fact," Harry said, ducking his head slightly. " I'm kind of glad you do -- " Hermione smiled. " But I'd really rather enjoy beating Malfoy's head in instead of yours."  
  
Hermione laughed and threw her arms around Harry's neck, feeling a sense of great relief. She felt Harry patting her back and she leaned back and gave him a quick kiss, knowing that's what he was expecting when she first pulled him into the room in the first place.  
  
  



	7. Coffea the Muggle Way and the Fizzing Wh...

Okay here's chapter 7. Umm...a little boring, I guess and excuse me if there's any spelling or grammar errors..I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who reviewed and if you have an e-mail address I'll try and e-mail you guys, okay?  
  
  
Harry headed out into the backyard, Hermione following close behind. His eyes skimmed the area quickly, keeping an eye out for Malfoy's pale face or his silver-blonde hair. If he saw him, he'd run over and beat Malfoy to a pulp.  
" Looks like Malfoy's avoiding us, doesn't it?" he said to Hermione, who was busy pulling her hair up into a ponytail.   
Hermione glanced around the backyard and shrugged her shoulders. " Looks like it. I'm sure he'll stay away, if he knows whats good for him," she added, giving Harry a sly smile.   
Harry laughed and the two sat down inside the gazebo, where Harry had been pondering over his thoughts about his mother and father just last night. He remembered shedding quite a few tears here, but decided to forget about it.   
" Hermione? We're taking our Apparating test next year, aren't we?" Harry asked, sitting down on the bench that curved around three sides of the gazebo. He set a package of Chocolate Frogs down beside him and pulled Hermione onto his lap.  
" Mm-hmm! It's a tough process, and I'm guessing right when we get back we'll start learning it," Hermione replied, unwrapping a Frog from it's package. She took a bite off the top of the head and chewed silently before adding," In fact, it looks so hard, I've been trying to work on it already."  
Harry shook his head in amusement. That was Hermione, always ahead of things, always prepared. He looked at her fondly for a moment. " I bet when we first start to learn it, you'll start Apparating in no time."  
Hermione smiled wistfully. " Yes, that would be nice, wouldn't it?" She looked at Harry with a funny smile on her face. " I bet you and Ron will end up Apparating somewhere completely way-off."  
" Yeah," Harry agreed with a chuckle, remembering Ron Weasley, who was off in Paris with his family for the holiday. " Ron will probably Apparate on top some poor old bloke taking a walk down the street and -- "  
" And you'll end up on top of him!" Hermione finished, squealing with laughter.  
Harry chuckled too. He wondered how many tries it took his mum or dad to pass their Apparating test. Guess I'll never know, came a voice inside his head, sounding bitter. He shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of the voice, trying to block any thoughts of his parents away from his mind. Hermione was here with him, and he would concentrate on Hermione, not his parents. Harry glanced over at Hermione, who had slid off his lap and was now flipping through the newly revised Hogwarts, A History, which she had brought along.   
Well, if Hermione was involved with her book, then maybe he could let his mind wander, Harry thought. He sat back and crumpled an empty wrapper of a Chocolate Frog in his hand, listening to the gentle wind rustling the trees nearby.   
From the information he had collected from Sirius, Dumbledore, and even Hagrid, he knew his mum, Lily Evans -- which she had been before she married Harry's dad -- was Muggle-born. And that she was Head Girl, and before that, a prefect.  
" She was the top student in our class, Harry," Sirius had told him once before. " Very clever, your mum was."  
" Yer mum was very kin' to me," Hagrid had informed Harry. " Always be comin' down to my cabin to visit me.."  
Harry smiled to himself. His thoughts then drifted over to his dad, James Potter, who was best friend's with Sirius, Head Boy, and a prefect as well.  
" Your dad and I were like you and that Weasley boy you hang out with..Ron, is it?" Sirius had mentioned once, with a smile on his face. " Yes, it was us four -- Remus, Peter(with this, Sirius' voice went to bitter, then changed back to normal), James, and I..but your father and I had this special bond."  
" Yer dad was the apple of every girls' eye, he was," Hagrid had said. " He always got intah trouble an' he was always up to somethin'."  
" James was in my office a lot, Harry," Dumbledore had informed him, a twinkle in his blue eyes. " I took a strong liking to him, as I did to Lily. We stayed in close contact even after the two left Hogwarts."  
" And Lily and James were just friends..before they started to get hung up over each other," Sirius had added, giving Harry a sly smile. " They were pure enemies in their first and second year, and we'd always play tricks on Lily and her friends. Then they slowly became friends..and I reckon by our sixth year your mum and dad both realized that they had fallen in love." With this, a small, odd smile had grown on Sirius' face; it was probably still hard for him remembering two of his closest friends.  
Harry felt himself being shaken. He ignored it and closed his eyes, visions of his parents etched deep within his brain. Not until he heard Hermione calling his name did Harry open his eyes again. He turned his head to look at her; Hermione was staring at him curiously.  
" Harry? Are you okay? I've been talking to you..I guess you didn't hear me," she said in a small voice.   
" Sorry," he apologized, straightening up. Harry rubbed at his eyes for a minute, thinking. Hermione was giving him her usual puppy-dog stare: bottom lip jutting out, eyelashes batting playfully. He felt bad that his mind wasn't concentrating on her completely, but he couldn't help it, thoughts of his parents just kept interfering, more than usual in fact. " Say, I've got an idea," he spoke up after awhile, leaning forward. " Hagrid sent me a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees..you want some?"  
Hermione's smile faltered, but Harry didn't notice. " Fizzing Whizzbees?" she repeated doubtfully. " Haven't we had enough with the Chocolate Frogs?"  
Harry pulled Hermione to a standing position and led her across the yard, back into the house where Narcissa was standing in front of the stove, jutting her wand at the coffea-pot angrily. She turned and noticed the two before they were able to head upstairs.  
" Oh, I'm glad you're here," she said in an aggrivated tone, silver-blonde wisps of hair falling in front of her face. She prodded the coffea-pot with her wand again and sighed. " I have no idea how to use this thing. Sirius asked for coffea..and..oh I don't know!"  
Harry held in his laughter as he turned the stove on for Narcissa, waited until the water was boiling, poured the hot water into a coffea mug, then scooped coffea grinds into it. The grinds dissolved leaving a dark brown liquid inside the cup. Narcissa looked at it strangely and back up at Harry, her nose wrinkling.  
" Harry, dear..I don't think that's the same color that I drank this morning," she said slowly.  
" I'm not finished yet," Harry replied. He added cream and sugar, and stirred. Soon the coffea turned into a rich caramel brown and the aroma filled the kitchen.  
Narcissa smiled happily and patted Harry on the arm, taking the steaming mug from his hands. " Thank you Harry..I better go give this to Sirius.." and she walked off.  
Harry turned to see Hermione sitting at the kitchen table, looking bored. He frowned slightly, wondering why they were in the house in the first place. Oh yes..the Fizzing Whizzbees. " You wait here, Mione," Harry spoke up, dashing up the stairs. He grabbed a bunch of the large, white sherbert balls and hurried back downstairs, dropping the lot on the table.  
Hermione opened one apprehensively. " I forgot what these -- " she started, as she started to suck on one. Almost immediately Hermione rose from the kitchen chair and started to rise up into the air, the top of her head grazing the ceiling. She smiled in delight. " Oh, I love these!"  
Harry laughed. " We'll be safer outside, Hermione.." He opened the door and Hermione pushed through, still floating. He opened a package and soon the two were flying through the air, laughing as they continued to rise skyward.   



	8. Microwave problems, Lily, and James

Okay next chapter! We're getting close to the end, you guys! Thanks to my readers! I will give a big huge thank you to all of you at the end of the story, okay? But I'm still working on e-mailing all of you, so be patient! And if some info about Lily and James is wrong..forgive me!  
  
  
The days passed considerably quickly. Draco avoided Harry and Hermione as much as he could, the only time the three of them were together in a room at the same time was during meal times, when Sirius and Narcissa insisted they all eat together.   
Hermione had been visiting for four days already. Her mind wasn't wandering as much, and she wasn't so easily distracted anymore. Thoughts of Draco were now seeping from her head pretty fast. Harry's mind seemed to be at ease as well. He rarely had that far-away look on his face when they talked, and he wasn't very grumpy about the subject of his parents anymore either.   
Hermione, who was in her room flipping through Hogwarts, A History, and looking for a funny picture of Snape to show to Harry, felt a sudden urge for something to eat. She could hear her stomach growling and she glanced at the clock. It was already 2 o' clock in the afternoon, lunch was delicious, but obviously she hadn't eaten as much as she wanted to. Heading down the stairs, Hermione could hear voices coming from the kitchen. She paused a minute by the doorway, listening. It was Sirius and Narcissa, not Draco.   
" Hello, Hermione dear," Narcissa greeted as Hermione entered the kitchen, her eyes flicking around quickly to see if Draco was present. Relief swept through her.  
" Hello Narcissa," Hermione said. She clasped her hands behind her back. " Do you have anymore of that steak and kidney pie you cooked for lunch?" she asked politely.  
Narcissa smiled gleefully and got up from the table, opening the fridge. " Let me see if we have some left.." she said, her voice muffled as she stuck her head inside the fridge, looking around. " Sirius might have eaten it all..the pig," she added teasingly.  
Sirius rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. " Speak for yourself," he said, pretending to be offended.  
Narcissa laughed and pulled out a plate with one more slice of the pie. " Here you go dear," she said, starting to hand Hermione the plate. As Hermione held out her hands to take it, Narcissa snatched it back, clicking her tounge. " Oops..I forgot. It needs to warmed.." and she turned to the microwave. After pressing a few buttons, which turned the microwave on, then off, then on again..Narcissa stepped back, dumbfounded. " Sirius..how on earth do you use this Muggle contraption in the first place?" she asked desperately.  
Hermione covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. The house was full of magical and Muggle items, and most of the Muggle items still confused Sirius, Narcissa, and even Draco, who was so spoiled from the Wizarding World, he still didn't know what a CD was.  
Sirius got up from the table, setting down a copy of the Daily Prophet, and walked over to the microwave, where Narcissa was still standing, hitting the door of it with her wand. " Open!" she commanded, yet the microwave still didn't budge.  
Chuckling, Sirius pried Narcissa's wand away. " Love, a microwave doesn't open by magic. It's Muggle invented, remember?"  
Narcissa clicked her tounge in disapprovement as Sirius calmly opened the door and set the plate of steak and kidney pie inside it. He then pressed a couple buttons, then start, and the microwave started to give off a low, humming sound as the food was warmed inside it.  
" I don't like that thing," Narcissa mumbled to herself, sitting down at the kitchen table and picking up an issue of Witch Weekly. " Oh look, Sirius..Fiona Droolop was spotted feeding Knuts into a..wattayacallit..parking meter," she read. Fiona Droolop, Hermione knew, was a crazy old witch who thought everyone and everything in the world was magical.  
Once the pie was warmed, Sirius and Narcissa invited Hermione to come sit down with them. She did so, and set her plate down in front of her, already starting to dig in. Her stomach was growling uncontrollably.  
After a few minutes of silence, Sirius and Narcissa reading while Hermione ate, Sirius set his paper down and turned to Hermione, was now drinking some pumpkin juice.  
" How's Harry?" he asked bluntly, as if Harry was away on holiday and she was the only one who heard from him.  
" Fine.." Hermione replied slowly. Harry was, in fact, upstairs taking a quick nap. After they had stayed up late last night talking and summoning odd things from the house to them, Harry was pretty tired.  
" He's not too touchy about his parents anymore?" Sirius asked, his face holding a very serious expression.  
Oh. So that's where the conversation was going. Hermione sat up straighter in her chair. " No, he's all right about it now. It must have been a phase, or something."  
" Splendid." Sirius sat back in his chair, looking out the window. " Lily and James were wonderful people," he said, more to himself it seemed, than to them. " Two of my favorite people."   
Feeling she should say something too, Hermione spoke up. " I saw the picture of the Potters upstairs, in the hall. Harry looks a lot like his father."  
Sirius nodded and turned to Hermione. " That's right. Harry is so like James it's uncanny. From his talent in Quidditch right down to his unruly hair."  
Hermione smiled, pleased. She knew if Harry was downstairs with them he'd be glad to hear this too, even though they both knew it already.   
" Harry's Head Boy, isn't he?" Narcissa asked. " James was Head Boy too, wasn't he, Sirius?"  
Hermione nodded quickly. " Oh yes. Harry's a wonderful Head Boy."   
" You're Head Girl, aren't you, Hermione?" Sirius asked, turning to her fondly. " It's ironic, actually. Lily was Head Girl too."  
" Come to think of it," Narcissa spoke up, leaning back in her chair. Her light blue eyes flashed in amusement. " You and Harry and Lily and James.." her voice trailed off and she turned to Sirius. " Think about it, Sirius. Isn't it funny?"  
Sirius glanced at Hermione, then nodded at his wife. " Yes, Narcissa..you're absolutely right!" They both shared a smile.  
Hermione glanced down at her half eaten steak and kidney pie, feeling her face flush. She glanced back up at the two adults, wishing they would tell her what they thought was funny. What about her, Harry, and Lily and James Potter?  
As if reading Hermione's mind, Sirius turned to face her again. " The things James and Lily and you and Harry have in common..it's funny, Hermione."  
" What things?"  
" Well.." Sirius sat back in his chair, as if making himself comfortable for a long explanation. Hermione leaned forward eagerly. " Lily was Muggle-born..as are you -- " at this he turned quickly to Hermione. " I don't mean that offensively, of course. You look a lot like Lily, except your hair is long and brown..her hair was red. But your eyes are exactly alike. Lily was very pretty, as are you.."  
Hermione flushed at the compliment. She did notice Lily Potter's green eyes were a lot like her own, but she never thought about it too much.  
" Harry is looking a lot like James. Except for the glasses, but James was Seeker for our Gryffindor team back then. Very curious too, he was," Sirius continued. " And I was his best friend..we always stuck together. A lot like Harry and Ron."  
Hermione's smile widened. " You're right. There's many things we have in common."   
Sirius smiled and leaned backward again. " Yes, but that's only the beginning.."  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Harry Blows Up

Harry gets angry with being compared to his parents. Excuse me for the spelling of some words I'm rushing to get this uploaded. Enjoy, and please continue R/R!  
  
  
  
Harry awoke with a start; he had just had a horrible nightmare about his parents. Shaking, Harry put his glasses on and stared down at his hands, trying to remember the dream, but it was no use. It had something to do with Voldemort, probably. As hard as he tried to remember it, the thoughts just kept slipping away. The harder Harry tried, the more he forgot. All he remembered was that it was a horrible dream, and it left him feeling funny about his parents again.   
What he needed to do was go and find Hermione, and keep his mind on other things. Harry slipped out of bed and headed down the hall. " Herm-" he started, poking his head into her room. It was empty. Hogwarts, A History lay open on her bed, and a corner of the bed was rumpled, showing that she had been sitting on it earlier. Harry drew back and looked around curiously, wondering where she could have gotten to. Then he heard laughter and conversation coming from downstairs, in the kitchen. It sounded like Narcissa, Sirius, and Hermione.   
Harry bounded down the stairs, listening to snatches of the conversation.  
" -- hated each other at first, didn't you?"  
" I nagged a lot. I hated them too -- "  
" -- the same for Lily and James."  
There was laughter, then someone said," How uncanny!" and the cheerful laughter continued.  
Harry stopped at the foot of the stairs, his heart beating quickly, hands clenching into fists. What were they talking about? Hating each other? And his parents? What did his parents have to do with anything?  
" Very clever, Lily was."  
" Smartest in our year, too."  
" James got good marks, though."  
" But Lily usually helped him a lot, didn't she?"  
There was a pause. Harry then heard Hermione's voice. " I help Harry with his work sometimes. But he's smart..he can handle it."  
" Lily helped me out, also. You help Ron as well, do you Hermione?"  
Harry couldn't take it anymore. Something inside him snapped; he couldn't take having Sirius and Narcissa compare his parents to him and Hermione. He could tell almost instantly after listening to them talk that that was what they were doing, and he didn't like it. Harry burst through the kitchen door, trying to keep calm, but failing quickly. He looked angrily from Sirius, to Narcissa, to Hermione, and back again. He took deep, furious breaths.  
" Harry!" Hermione said in alarm, jumping up in her seat from suprise. She smiled at Harry brightly, yet her legs twitched slightly underneath the table. " I didn't know you were awake."  
" You startled us boy," Sirius said with a smile. He pulled out a chair for Harry to sit in. " Come and sit down. We were --"  
" I know what you were doing!" Harry snapped. The smiles fell from their faces at Harry's alarming tone. " Talking about my parents, were you?"  
" H-Harry..Sirius and Narcissa were just saying --" Hermione stammered.  
" I know what they were saying!" Harry said coldly. " I heard you guys. Finding things that Hermione and I have in common with my parents, right? Weren't you?"  
Sirius looked at Harry oddly, frowning. " Harry, there's nothing to get angry about. We weren't saying anything at all offending about you, Hermione, or your parents. You know we would never -- "  
" I don't care! You shouldn't compare me to my parents! My parents are bloody dead! You can't compare me to dead people!" Harry shouted.   
" Harry!" Hermione cried loudly. " You don't know what you're saying! Stop it!" She looked scared, wondering why Harry was acting that way.   
Sirius stood up, the legs of his chair scratching against the tiled floor. " Listen, Harry. Being compared to your parents is a great honor. They were wonderful people and -- "  
" I don't want to be compared to them!" Harry shouted, this time louder. He could barely think straight. His vision was getting blurry, then clearer, then blurry again. Why would he want to be compared with his parents? From what he heard it sounded like he and Hermione -- even Ron, were playing rondavew, living the life his parents had lived. But who would want that? Weren't his parents murdered by Voldemort? Wasn't he, Harry, almost killed as well? If so much was alike between him, Hermione, and his parents, didn't that mean that he would end up like them as well? At the end of Voldemort's wand? Worse, his kid would probably be in danger, too.  
" Don't say that, Harry!" Hermione protested, looking hurt and horrified at how Harry was acting. She stood up and took a step closer to him.   
" I don't want to be anything like them! I don't want you to be a ruddy thing like them, either! I don't want us to end up like them!" he continued to yell, turning on Hermione.   
Hermione gasped, tears flooding her green eyes. She escaped from the room, crying. Harry looked blankly after her. He turned slowly to face Sirius and Narcissa, whose expressions were cold.  
He made a move to hurry after Hermione, but Sirius caught him by the crook of his arm and pushed him gently towards a chair at the kitchen table.  
" Sit down, Harry," Sirius commanded in a low voice.  
Harry sat.  
Sirius started to pace, stopping every few seconds to look at Harry in disbelief. He then sat down across from him and leaned forward. " What has gotten into you?" he asked in concern.  
" Harry, dear..we weren't saying anything to offend your parents," Narcissa added before Harry could respond.  
Harry looked at the two of them, thoughts and questions running through his mind. Where should he start? What should he say first? And shouldn't he go up and comfort Hermione, even though he had no idea why she was crying?  
" I - I don't want to be like my parents," he croaked finally.  
Sirius' face turned stony. He swallowed, then spoke. " Why not? There was nothing wrong with your parents. I'm suprised at you, Harry. I thought you took pride in th --"  
" I do. I do take pride in them," Harry interrupted quickly. " I..I just don't want to end up like them."  
Sirius looked at him in confusion as he leaned back in his seat. His eyebrows arched. " You don't want to end up like them?" he repeated.  
Harry nodded fervently. " There're so many things you found that were the same as Hermione and me. It's like we're living their lives over again."  
" But you're not. You're completely different people, Harry," Sirius said slowly. His fingers drummed against the table.  
" In a way," he admitted. Harry sighed and glanced out the window, then back at Sirius. His eyes fell quickly on Narcissa, who was watching him intently. He swallowed. " I just don't want to be at the end of Voldemort's wand again..and lose."  
The silence after Harry had spoken was a long one. No one moved. Even the birds seemed to stop chirping from outside. If Harry strained his ears long and hard enough, he could probably hear Hermione crying from inside her room. He got up from his chair, the scratching of the chair legs loud and unearthly.  
" I've got to go see Hermione," he said and turned. Sirius and Narcissa watched him leave, but still, he got no reply.  
  
  



	10. A bruise from a hair dryer, a broken win...

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews, just make sure you keep on doing it! Hermione might be acting a little weird in this chapter..but forgive her, a thought crossed her mind and she's pretty angry about it. Hmm..what else to say...I think that's about it! Enjoy!  
  
Hermione could barely think straight. She didn't want to stay in this house anymore -- well, she did but not if Harry was going to act so cruel to her. Looking around the room, Hermione wondered if she should pack first or send a letter to her parents first. Then she  
saw Hedwig fluttering around the upstairs hallway, looking bored.   
  
" Hedwig, come here," she croaked in a shaky voice. The snowy white owl flew over to her, landing on the desk in her room. Grabbing a quill and a piece of parchment, Hermione quickly wrote a note to her parents, tellling them she'd be arriving earlier than expected. Early, as in tomorrow.   
  
Hedwig gave a hoot. Hermione looked up. She was holding out her leg, impatiently waiting for the letter. Hermione grabbed a piece of string, rolled the letter up, and started to tie it to Hedwig's leg. Harry wouldn't mind that Hedwig was gone. Harry didn't care about her, why should he care about an owl?   
  
She started to pull the window open when a noise behind her made Hermione turn around. Harry was standing in the doorway, looking sullen. The usual sparkle in his green eyes were gone, and he looked paler.  
  
" What're you doing?" he asked, taking a step into the room. His eyes fell on Hedwig, who was pecking at the window pane, ready to go out and deliver the letter.  
  
" Hedwig's delivering a letter for me," Hermione replied stiffly, turning away. She continued to open the window, but it was hard. The stupid thing wouldn't budge. Quickly, Hermione's eyes scanned it, wondering if it was locked or not. Without thinking, she pulled out her wand and whispered," _Alohomora!_".  
  
" Hermione, no!" Harry cried out in a panic, but it was too late. The window burst open, glass shattering everywhere, and the frame of it fell two stories below, into the backyard with a sickening thud.   
" Oh..oh no.." Hermione whispered frantically, looking around her room. Shards of glass were twinkling everywhere and each piece looked very, very sharp. She lifted her wand and started to whisper," _Red_ --" the spell that would put everything back together again, but Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her away.  
  
" Hermione," he said in a calm voice. " If you do that, the glass will hit you before it goes back to the window."  
  
" I..I knew that," she snapped, pulling herself free from him. Hedwig was still perched on her desk, as if not knowing whether or not to deliver the letter. " Go on," she said, prodding Hedwig with her wand. " Go send it to my parents."  
  
" Wait!" Harry cried again, as Hedwig rose and was about to soar through the window. He grabbed Hedwig and yanked the letter off her leg, then pushed her in the direction of his room. She gave an angry hoot of disapproval, nipped Harry and Hermione hard on the ear, and flew off.   
" What do you think you're doing?" Hermione asked indignantly, rubbing at the spot where Hedwig had bitten her. She suspected a nasty bruise would form from it. " That was a letter for my parents!"  
  
" Hermione," Harry said in that same, irritatingly calm voice. " Your parents don't receive mail by owl. Do you remember the last time your mum saw one swooping towards her?"  
  
" Oh..oh yes.." Hermione said quietly. She sat down on her bed, flipping absently through the pages of _Hogwarts, A Histor_y. Harry was there with her that Christmas holiday when Ron, who had gone to Romania to visit his brother, Charlie, had sent them both Christmas presents by owl, forgetting that Mr. and Mrs. Granger were Muggle, and not very used to this concept. Her mother had screamed, dropping the bowl of mashed potatoes she had in her hand, and ran for the house. After her parents had calmed down, they told Hermione again they didn't want owls coming from all over dropping off letters.  
  
" Well how am I supposed to tell them I'm coming home?" she asked angrily, tears pricking her eyes.  
" They know when you're going home, Mione," Harry replied, sitting next to her on the bed. " This coming Sunday. Your parents won't forget."  
  
" I'm not going home this Sunday," she replied, brushing the tears away from her eyes furiously.   
  
" You're not?"  
  
" No! I'm going home tomorrow!" she cried out, jumping up from the bed. She might as well start packing. With a wave of her wand, her suitcase and duffel bag flew out of the closet, perching neatly on her bed, open and ready to be filled. The duffel bag landed on Harry's lap, and he examined it for a minute before pushing it aside and standing up next to Hermione.  
  
" Why?" he asked, trying to take her hands in his.  
  
Hermione moved away, staring out the other window, which was unshattered. " I think you know," she replied icily.  
  
Harry was silent for a minute. " No, I don't Hermione. Please tell me."  
  
" Just..Just think of what you said downstairs! Then you'll know!" With that, Hermione pointed at the set of drawers by the desk, and the top one flew open, revealing her undergarments. " Now turn away! I'm packing!"  
  
" All I said was that I didn't want to be compared to my mum and dad," Harry said quietly, not hearing what Hermione had demanded.  
  
Angrily, Hermione dropped her wand on the floor and wheeled around sharply, her hands by her side, her nostrils flared, breating deeply. " Harry Potter," she said through clenched teeth. " You also said you didn't want _me_ being compared to them either. You didn't want me to be like them. And you didn't want _us_ to end up like them!"  
  
Harry looked back at her blankly. After a moment, he shrugged his shoulders.   
" And?"  
  
With an angry scream, Hermione grabbed the contents of the open drawer and flung them at Harry, yelling at the top of her lungs," YOU STUPID PRAT! YOU'RE CRUEL!" Undergarments, shirts, pants, bathrobes, and even a hair dryer smacked into Harry as Hermione continued to yell, not knowing what she was saying anymore.  
  
" What is all this?" came Sirius' loud voice from the right of her. Hermione dropped the projectile she was planning on aiming at Harry's head down onto the floor, and looked around wildly. Harry was standing, hunched in a corner of the room, looking petrified. He had a nasty bruise on his face, where the hair dryer had hit him. Hermione didn't say a word.   
  
" Hermione, are you all right?" Sirius asked, stepping into the room. He dodged a heap of clothing that had missed Harry. " What happened?"  
  
" Harry! Your face!" Narcissa flew into the room and headed straight for Harry, who was staring at Hermione in shock. With a flick of her wand, an ice pack flew into Narcissa's hand and she gently placed it on Harry's purpling bruise. She turned to glare at Hermione and asked the same question Sirius just said. " What happened?"  
  
" I-I'm sorry..sorry..the mess.." Hermione mumbled, looking around at the mess she had made in her anger. With a flick of her wand and a spell she muttered under her breath, everything flew back to it's proper place. The hair dryer, which was behind Harry, hit him hard against the head before flying back to it's appropriate spot in the bathroom.  
  
" Excuse me, Narcissa," Harry said in a quiet voice, pushing past her. He glanced over his shoulder at Hermione, a hurt look in his eyes. Hermione's heart skipped a beat, she could feel the hurt as if it was her's since, after all, she was the one who had put it there. Then he left, hurrying into his room and slamming the door shut behind him.  
  
" I'm really sorry.." she muttered again. " I don't know what came over me."  
" It's alright, Hermione," Sirius said, and he too, looked at her in shock. " Narcissa's starting to cook dinner..so..why don't you rest or something before it's ready? How 'bout it?"  
  
Hermione nodded dully as Narcissa and Sirius left the room, closing the door shut behind them. She sighed in desperation and felt tears streaming down her cheeks. What was she supposed to do now? It would be impossible for her to sleep right now, after having the look of hurt on Harry's face flash continuisly in front of her eyes. With a deep breath, she headed out of her room and a few seconds later, found herself in front of Harry's, knocking quietly on the bedroom door.  
  
" Go away."   
  
" Harry, please..it's me."  
" Go _away_."  
  
" Please, Harry..I'm awfully sorry. Can I just talk to you for a minute?"  
  
The door flew open and Harry appeared, looking hurt and angry. " 60 seconds," he snapped. " Go."  
Hermione looked at him curiously, suprised at how mean he was being. He had a right to be, of course. His girlfriend had just yelled at him, calling him rude names and smacked a hair dryer in his face. She'd be mad too if Harry had done that to her.   
" 55 seconds."  
  
" Harry, look. I'm really, really sorry over what I did to you." Hermione touched his bruise gently with her fingers, then pulled away after noticing Harry's blank expression. " I don't know what came over me. Actually..yes, I do. When..when you started yelling downstairs about your parents, I was so suprised. I didn't know you had that side of you. Then you told me you didn't want _me_ to be like them..and you didn't want _us_ to end up like them..and it hurt, Harry. I got so angry. You understand, don't you?"  
  
Harry blinked, then pulled Hermione into his room, shutting the door behind her. Hermione got ready to let Harry kiss her, or hug her, but he didn't do any of that. Instead he pushed her down on the bed and started to pace. After a minute, he stopped and looked down at her oddly.   
  
" You actually want to end up like my parents?" he asked in a disbelieving tone.  
  
" Of course, Harry. I want _us_ to end up like them."  
  
Harry started muttering to himself, running his hands through his hair, stopping every few seconds to look down at her in disbelief. Hermione's heart skipped a beat anxiously. Obviously Harry didn't want to end up like his parents. She should have known..the idea at this age scared him. What an idiot she was. " Look, Harry..I understand if you don't  
want -- "  
  
" Of course I don't want to end up like them!" he interrupted loudly. " I don't want to end up dying like that. I thought you didn't want to, either."  
  
" I do --" Hermione stopped and leapt to her feet in suprise. She ran what Harry had just said through her mind a couple times, then broke out into a wide smile. " Of course I don't want to die, Harry! What gave you that idea?"  
  
Harry stared at her, his eyes wide. He thought she was going mad, didn't he? With a laugh, Hermione pulled Harry to her. " Is that what you meant? When you said you didn't want us to end up like your mum and dad?"  
  
Harry nodded mutely, and Hermione squealed in delight. The two of them had gotten completely different ideas of what he had said. " Oh, Harry..I'm so, _so_ sorry for hitting you and yelling. Will you ever forgive me?"  
  
" I've done a lot of forgiving these past few days, haven't I?" he asked with a small chuckle, pulling her into a hug. 


	11. The Proposal

Okey dokey, Hermione freaks again in this chapter..and she might be acting pretty stupid, but really, you can't blame her..she's a girl! KEEP R/R PLEASE!   
  
Hermione hugged Harry back, closing her eyes in content. There was no need for her to pack up and head home right away anymore. Harry wanted to marry her..didn't he? With that thought, Hermione pulled away and looked up at Harry expectantly. Harry looked back at her, yet his face held no expression.  
  
" Something wrong?" he asked.  
  
" Uh --" Hermione's voice broke. She cleared her throat and continued. " Well..mmm..I guess we both had different ideas on what you..meant."  
  
Harry nodded and sat down on his bed. He smiled wryly at her. " You must have thought something really horrible -- or else you wouldn't have thrown that hair dryer at my head." He rubbed at the spot where he had been hit. " That hurt you know. I bet a nasty bruise will form there," he added, sourly. In a minute his face broke out into a smile. " But as long as you're not mad anymore."  
  
" I'm not." Hermione shifted uneasily in front of him, wondering if she should ask what he thought about -- " Harry, you were talking about..dying, right? You were angry about that, right?"  
  
Harry nodded again. " Yeah. I'm curious now..what did you think I was talking about?"  
  
" It was nothing, really," Hermione muttered, ducking her head as she felt spots of pink forming on her cheeks.  
  
Harry laughed. " And Malfoy's not a horrible prat. It was something, Mione. If it wasn't..would you really have hit me that hard?"  
  
" I could if I wanted to," she replied back, smiling. " I..It's not really -- not anymore, I suppose."  
" No, Hermione..tell me. I want to know."  
  
Hermione turned away, feeling her face color scarlet.  
"Ithoughtyoudidn'twantustogetmarried," she mumbled, blending her words together on purpose. When all she heard from Harry was silence, she turned to face him again, looking up at his face searchingly, but not saying another word.   
  
She watched, feeling her stomach drop down to her knees; Harry's green eyes widening behind his glasses, looking shocked. He ran a hand through his hair nervously and smiled down at her.  
  
" Say it again? It must have been me, because I thought I heard you say something about us getting married." He forced out a laugh, but it faded almost instantly.  
  
Hermione could feel the tears flooding her eyes. She blinked rapidly and felt the cold wetness of them slide down her cheeks, dripping down her chin and into the carpet, where it was soaked in. Taking a step backwards, watching Harry's eyes widen and watch her curiously, Hermione could feel her heart starting to beat faster. He didn't want to marry her. It was all a joke to him. It was too early..for him to be thinking about..   
  
" Mione? What's wrong?" Harry asked in alarm, taking a step towards her, his arms outstretched.  
  
Hermione didn't fall into them like she normally would have. She continued backing farther away, closer to the door. How stupid she was. All these years, all this time..it was all worth nothing. True, maybe marriage hadn't popped into her head in the beginning, but after awhile..she just assumed. _I shouldn't assume anything_, a voice inside her head snapped. But still, the thought burned in her mind as if it had always been there, just waiting for the right moment to come out. What were they going to do? Date until forever then suddenly break up and marry other people? Hermione's rational mind knew it was impossible..but looking at Harry's confused expression..maybe that's what he was thinking. She knew it was selfish to suddenly care about marriage and nothing else, but if Harry wasn't going to marry her..she was already seventeen..maybe she should be looking for someone else? Someone who did want --  
  
" Hermione!" Harry's voice, shrill with curioiusity and worry, broke into her thoughts, dropping her back down to reality. She looked at him blankly for a minute, the tears still streaming down her cheeks.  
  
" Are you going to continue to stand there forever, or were you ever planning on telling me what's going on?" he asked irritably.  
  
Hermione opened her mouth, ready to insist that it was nothing, she should be packing. Why, he'd ask. And that, Hermione knew, but felt too embarressed to say anything. How childish it would sound for her to cry out," Because you're not going to marry me!" as if she was whining to her mother for not getting her favorite ice cream flavor.  
  
" You don't want to marry me, Harry Potter!" she blurted out, unable to control the words spilling out of her mouth. She glanced at Harry, whose confused expression turned to pure shock. A sob escaped her and she fled from the room, hurrying down the stairs as quickly as her feet would take her, stumbling on the bottom step. She could hear Harry calling for her, hurrying behind her, but she didn't bother to look up.  
  
" Hermione! Hermione, wait!" Harry yelled as she pushed through the front door, hurrying out into the dim night sky. The sun was beginning to set, and she could hear crickets chirping off in the distance. Out of breath, she stopped in the middle of the driveway, panting. What should she do? Owl her parents? No, no...Hedwig was upstairs, she couldn't turn around and hurry back inside the house for fear she'd bump into Harry, which would make her cry even harder. Run? Run where?   
  
" Hermione!" Harry's hand was on her forearm, his fingers gripping her arm tightly. His other hand yanked on hers, pulling her towards him. She tried desperately to get away, feeling despair and sadness overwhelming her. To tired to move now, she allowed Harry to pull her closer to him, his arms wrapping around her, hugging her tightly. She didn't move, just breathed in deep, shallow breaths that hurt her head.  
  
Harry pulled away from her, holding her at arm's length. He studied her face, his brows knitted in confusion and concern. " Hermione, please. What's wrong?"  
Hermione wanted to yell. How stupid was he? She had just blurted something out about marriage, and here he was, still asking her what was wrong. She looked back at him, one thought running through her mind: _My boyfriend is dense.  
_  
" Let me go, Harry, let me go!" she suddenly cried out, turning and struggling to escape Harry's grasp. She turned her body this way and that, trying to twist out of the hold Harry had on her. " Let me go, Harry!" she protested, attempting to shove his hands away from her. " You don't want to marry me! Leave me alone, Harry! You -- "  
  
" What? Hermione, that's not -- " Harry interrupted loudly, trying to control Hermione's feeble attempts of escaping his grasp.   
  
But Hermione continued as if she hadn't heard him. " You don't want to marry me, Harry Potter! Just let me go! Leave me alone and I don't want -- "  
  
" Hermione, will you marry me?" Harry blurted out suddenly, holding onto her arms tighter as he tried to look into her eyes, but found it rather difficult since Hermione was flailing about.  
  
Suddenly Hermione stopped. She ceased trying to wrench herself away from Harry and looked into his eyes, the emerald green ones she loved staring into so much..they always twinkled behind his glasses, and they were doing so now. " What..what did you say?" she asked in a whisper.  
  
" I said, 'Hermione, will you marry me?' " Harry repeated, a faint smile on his lips.  
  
It wasn't much of a proposal, it was such a feeble attempt that you could hardly call it a proposal, in fact, but that didn't matter to Hermione. Tears -- happy tears -- welled up in her eyes and she threw her arms around Harry's neck, hugging him hard and crying happily into his shoulder.  
  
Harry's arms wrapped around her as they did so most often, and she could feel him kissing the top of her head. " I take that as a yes?" he said softly in her ear.  
Hermione laughed through her tears and hugged Harry harder. " Yes, Harry, yes! Oh, Harry! I will marry you!"  
  
The two stood like that, embracing, for what seemed like hours, but was actually only a few minutes. Then they broke apart, shared a kiss, and headed, hand in hand, back towards the house.  
  
Hermione felt dizzy; light-headed with happiness. She quickly dried her tears that were still wet on her face as she and Harry headed into the kitchen, where Narcissa and Draco were sitting, waiting for the others to arrive for dinner. Draco looked away as her eyes fell on him, but Hermione didn't care. She was engaged. Engaged to Harry, the love of her life. How better could life get?  
  
Once Sirius had arrived, Narcissa served steak and eggs. It was wonderful, or was that just Hermione's feelings for everything? Everything was wonderful in the world at the moment.   
  
" What in the wizarding world are you two so happy about?" came Draco's voice, from what seemed a far distance away.  
  
Hermione's head snapped up. She and Harry had been glancing at each other from across the table, and he gave her a quick smile before she turned to face Draco. He was scowling at her, his arms crossed over his chest, looking very un-Draco like.  
" I mean, _forgive me_ -- " and with that, his voice dripped with sarcasm, " -- for interrupting your sunny optimistic world..but would you mind not being in it while I'm eating? It's rather gross."  
  
" Draco!" Narcissa reprimended gently. Draco payed no attention to her and continued eating.  
  
  
Back upstairs, sitting on Harry's bed and stroking the soft feathers of Hedwig's wings, Hermione sat up straighter as Harry entered the room, having come back from helping clean the dishes, a task he was forced to do with Draco. Harry's mouth was set in a grim line as he entered, but as his eyes fell on her, sitting there on his bed, a bright smile appeared on his face, and he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.  
Hermione smiled. She needed to get something off her chest, something she had been thinking about ever since Harry had proposed to her. Absently, she gently shoved Hedwig aside as Harry sat down next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.  
" Harry?" she said haltingly, looking up at him through lowered lashes.  
  
" Hmm?"  
  
" I..I feel awful about that horrible scene I had stupidly done earlier. You know, with me going on about you not wanting to marry me," she said in a rush. Hermione clasped her hands together tightly in her lap as she waited for Harry to answer.  
  
" Well, you were acting a bit mad, I have to admit."  
  
Hermione laughed. " I don't know what got into me. I freaked, I admit. Something must have gotten loose in my mind. But I'm okay now..and I'm sorry."  
  
" It's alright." Harry chucked her under the chin. " I don't want you to think I asked you to marry me just so you'd shut up, though."  
  
With a smile, Hermione hugged him. " No, of course not. But when do you think we should tell Sirius and Narcissa about our..plan?"  
  
" Tomorrow morning," Harry decided without a minute hesitation.  
  
Hermione nodded and got up, giving Harry a quick good-night kiss before heading back into her room. She changed into her night dress and slid underneath the covers, falling asleep with a smile on her face.  



	12. A Time To Celebrate

Hmm..what's going on in this chapter. Just a little Sirius and Harry bonding. R/R please.  
  
The thought hit Harry just as his eyes opened slowly from a dreamless sleep. _He was going to marry Hermione._ Heart leaping in a mix of panic over what he had done and excitement over how great he knew his future was going to be, Harry sat up in his bed, slipped on his glasses, and stared out the window, watching the sunrise. An instant rush of happiness hit him and he nearly fell out of bed. Quickly, Harry pulled on his bathrobe over his p.j.'s and rushed out of his room, nearly colliding with Hermione in the hall. They looked at each other awkwardly for a minute, as if not knowing what to say.  
  
Harry spoke first. " Good Morning, love."  
  
" Good Morning," Hermione replied, smiling brightly. A periwinkle blue bathrobe was hanging loosely over her nightdress and it slipped down to her shoulders as she leaned up to give him a good morning kiss.   
  
Harry smiled and intertwined his fingers through hers, leading her downstairs. Sirius was sitting at the breakfast table alone, sipping coffea and reading the _Daily Prophet_, just like he had done many mornings before. As he led Hermione over to the table, Harry felt an odd sense of familiarity settle over him. Everything was pretty much the same as usual. Sirius would be sitting, awake earlier than the rest of them, drinking his coffea and reading his paper. Then Harry and Hermione would enter, they'd have a nice breakfast, and Narcissa would join them later. Except this time, Harry and Hermione were no longer just boyfriend and girlfriend, they were engaged.  
  
" Good morning you two," Sirius greeted them cheerily, pushing a plate of waffles toward them.  
  
Neither Harry or Hermione accepted them. They glanced at each other nervously before looking back over at Sirius. Harry cleared his throat. " Where's Narcissa?" he asked. He preffered to share the news with both of them at the same time, instead of having to repeat the information twice. It wasn't bad news at all, yet the thought of saying it was giving him butterflies in his stomach at the moment.  
  
Sirius arched his eyebrows and opened his mouth to speak but a shuffling of feet behind him made him close his mouth in silence. He glanced over his shoulder, smiled at his wife, then turned back to them. " There she is now," he said slowly.  
  
" Have I been expected?" Narcissa asked curiously, sitting down in a chair besides Sirius, and pulling the plate of waffles closer to her.   
  
" There's something Mione and I want to tell you," Harry spoke up, trying to keep his voice from shaking. He could feel Hermione gripping his hand tightly underneath the table, and felt slightly better.  
  
It was Narcissa's turn to raise her eyebrows. She stopped chewing on a waffle and looked at them closely. She then shot a Look at Sirius before turning back to Harry and Hermione, sensing the tone of seriousness in Harry's voice. " It's not..bad, is it?"  
  
" Well, if you look at it differently it is," Hermione piped up next to Harry, and he smiled.  
" What is it then?" Sirius asked, the _Daily Prophet_ lying forgotten on the table. Both of his hands were gripping his coffea mug tightly.  
  
Harry took a deep breath. " We're getting married."  
  
There was a short silence, then the kitchen errupted into cheers and shouts of celebration; it sounded as if a small parade had just burst through the kitchen door. Harry and Hermione sat there, stunned, as Narcissa and Sirius whooped with happiness -- which they had never done before, Harry realized(the whooping, not being happy part) -- jumping up and hugging each other, before turning to bombard Harry and Hermione with many, many hugs and congratulations.  
Harry's face hurt so much from smiling. He felt so relieved that Sirius and Narcissa were extremeley happy for them, even though he knew they would be. The celebrating died down a couple minutes later, and, after finishing off a particularly good breakfast, Harry brought Hermione to the foot of the stairs.  
  
" Mione, wait for me upstairs in my room, will you?" he asked, gripping her hands tightly in his. " I've got something I want to talk to Sirius about."  
  
Hermione cocked her head to one side and looked at Harry curiously, but didn't say a word. She just nodded after a moment, turned, and headed upstairs, disappearing into Harry's bedroom, the door clicking shut behind her. Harry waited a moment, then turned and headed back into the kitchen, where Sirius and Narcissa were sitting, talking animatedly to one another.  
  
They stopped when they noticed Harry had entered. Sirius stood and clapped Harry on the back as he walked towards them.  
  
" Congratulations, Harry!" he said jovially.  
  
Harry smiled meekly. He wanted to talk to Sirius in private, but he couldn't bring himself to say so. It might hurt Narcissa's feelings, and that was the last thing Harry wanted to do. As if sensing Harry had something important to tell him, Sirius took Harry by the arm, led him out of the kitchen, and into the family room, where they were in private.  
  
" Something up, Harry?" Sirius asked.  
  
Harry nodded, looking around the room at the nice furnishings, wondering where to start. He could feel Sirius' eyes, as if boring into his head, trying to find out what he was thinking. Harry turned and started speaking.  
  
" I'm really sorry for getting engaged so early. I mean, I know I'm only seventeen..but I really love her, Sirius, I really do. And I might just lose her so I got all panicky and I just proposed. And I know the four of us have just started living here together, and here I am -- I mean, I know you knew Hermione and I were together --, but here she is coming over and then suddenly we're getting married. And sorry to say, I haven't had much of a childhood..living with the Dursleys and all until a couple months ago..and if it feels like I'm suddenly..gone, I apologize because that's what I think it might feel like to you and Narcissa. But Narcissa really has Mal -- oops, I mean Draco..and then if -- "  
  
" Harry, stop." Sirius put up a hand to Harry's face, a small smile present on his face. He took hold of Harry by the shoulders. " I understand. You don't have to explain." His face changed expression suddenly, and Harry wondered if his godfather was going to cry. " I..I understand what your childhood must have been like. And all Narcissa and I can do is take care of you until you're ready to be on your own. I know the Dursleys were just..cruel. But believe me, you are welcome to live here as long as you like..don't feel like you have to move off and live with Hermione all of a sudden. You're a good boy, Harry..I'm proud to have you as my godson. And I'm sure..I'm _positive_ James would have the biggest smile on his face if he was here to hear you tell us you're getting married." And with that, Sirius pulled Harry into a hug, a very fatherly hug that Harry had never experienced before. Uncle Vernon barely touched him unless to attempt a blow at him, and Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley, Ron's father had hugged him before..but it was nothing special to how Sirius was hugging him now. Harry suspected, as he gripped Sirius' shoulders tightly, that this was how his father probably would hug him too, if his father was alive.  



	13. Hermione gets Draco back

This is a VERY short chapter..but I just didn't feel good ending it on the 13th chapter..call my crazy, but oh well. Draco comes back in this part, for all you Draco-lovers out there. Let's see what he does this time, shall we? R/R  
  
***  
  
Hermione carelessly flipped through one of Harry's school books, the words not coming into focus on the pages as they passed her eyes. Her body was here, sitting on Harry's bed, up in Harry's room, but her mind was downstairs with Harry, sitting next to him as he talked to Sirius about who-knows-what. She wondered when and how she would break the news to her parents, and hoped that they would react as happily as Sirius and Narcissa had. _Of course they will, they love Harry_, she thought to herself.  
  
The door to Harry's room creaked open slowly, and Hermione lifted her head quickly, expecting to see Harry standing there. Instead, Draco was standing in the doorframe, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking extremely smug for some reason, a reason that wasn't doing to well with Hermione's nerves. She rose quickly as Draco strode into the room, his long legs getting him over to her in three quick strides.   
  
" Draco, what do you -- "  
  
" I overhead the four of you celebrating something downstairs in the kitchen earlier," Draco interrupted, his silver-gray eyes flashing. " It seems to me that you and Potter are getting hitched."  
  
Hermione didn't enjoy the word "hitched", especially the way Draco had said it. It sounded to her as if what she and Harry were doing was wrong, which she knew it wasn't. " We're getting _married_, not _hitched_," she snapped through clenched teeth.  
  
Draco shrugged his shoulders lazily. " Married..hitched..same thing." He looked around Harry's room. " Where is loverboy, anyway?"  
  
" Downstairs talking to Sirius," Hermione replied tersely. " And he'll be coming back upstairs any moment. So I'd advise you to leave, _now_."  
  
Draco laughed carelessly and stepped closer to her. Hermione was ready this time. Her right hand dove into the pocket of her bathrobe, where her wand was lying, ready to be used at any moment. As her fingers clenched around it, Draco leaned closer to her, so close she could feel his hot breath tickling her neck.  
  
" Before I leave there's been something I've been meaning to do.." he whispered, his eyes fluttering close as he leaned over and attempted to kiss Hermione squarely on the lips.  
  
Hermione backed farther away and Draco pitched forward, but did not fall. He straightened up and raised his eyebrows into a high arch. " Playing hard to get again, Hermione?"  
  
Just as she was about to pull her wand out of her pocket and aim it at Draco, ready to perform the Leg-Locking Curse, a sudden idea struck her. Hermione smiled seductively and took a step closer to Draco, which caused his eyes to widen in suprise that she was not resisting him.  
  
" Draco," she purred, moving even closer to him. " There's been something I've been meaning to do for a long, _long_ time..I just haven't mustered up the courage."  
  
" Well, go on then.." Draco prompted, obviously pleased with himself, thinking he had won her over.  
  
Hermione leaned in, acting as if she were about to kiss him, yet suddenly pulled pack and punched Draco right in the eye, her fist colliding with his face with such force, she felt the pain herself.  
  
" OW!" Draco hollered, his hands flying up to his right eye as he staggered backwards. With his other eye he glared at Hermione angrily. " What the hell was that for, Hermione?"  
  
" Harry and I are engaged, Malfoy," she said simply, pushing him through the door and, before shutting it in his face, added," Don't let this hit you on your way out."  
  



	14. His Parents Would Be Proud

Well, this is it guys! The end of Summer Proposal. I really enjoyed writing, and I hope I still get reviews on how it turned out. I think Wanda Gag is a real author, but the name just seemed to fit..ya know? The ending might be a little sappy, but I really didn't know how to end it and I think that fit the best. The next chapter is just a big bunch of thank you's and if you were one of the people who reviewed, you're in there so you should read it! I'm also going to be starting another story, this time focusing on Hermione..but that's all I'm gonna tell you! It's called It's Not True, Is It? Just so you know. Enjoy!  
  
  
  
Right after breakfast, as the sky was turning a hazy purple to a now lighter blue, Sirius, Narcissa, Hermione, and Harry boarded the Knight Bus for Diagon Alley. Malfoy had refused to come, and gave them a door slamming good-bye as they left. Harry figured the reason was mainly because Malfoy had a large, ugly black and blue bruise right over his right eye, which prevented him from opening it. Harry also figured this bruise had something to do with Hermione, telling from the brighter smile on her face and the way Malfoy had glared at her very angrily all through breakfast.  
  
Harry couldn't wait to see Ron and the rest of the Weasley family. Ron was his best friend, and they hadn't seen each other since school let out. Harry and Hermione had spent a great deal of time writing a letter to Ron yesterday about the engagement, and the trip to Diagon Alley, insisting he and his familly go and meet them there. Harry watched the interesting view pass him through the windows as the Knight Bus sped away, weaving in between trash cans and right through dense bushes, his mind remembering the great times he, Ron, and Hermione had shared during their six years at Hogwarts. Part of him was also listening to the conversation Hermione, Sirius, and Narcissa were having. They chatted lightly and laughed often.  
  
Suddenly Hermione turned to him, placing her hand on his forearm, leaning close to him, looking up at him with intense eyes. He smiled down at her and she smiled back. "Harry, when we reach Diagon Alley, we need to head straight to Newly-Wed Witches and Wizards Houseware. I want to pick up a few things for our new house."  
  
Harry's jaw dropped as he stared down at Hermione, feeling his eyes widen behind his glasses. A few seconds later, Hermione was giggling uncontrollably, collapsing onto his lap. Sirius and Narcissa were laughing so hard, they had to hold each other up. Soon Harry joined in too, and the four of them continued laughing until the Knight Bus dropped them off in Diagon Alley.  
  
Their Hogwarts letters regarding their seventh year, along with the items they were recquired to have, came in by owl post a few days before. Sirius, Narcissa, Hermione, and Harry had a great time buying all their school items he and Hermione needed, and, by the time they headed down the street to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor to meet the Weasley's, Harry was ladden down with books( _So It's Your Seventh Year of Potions, by Wanda Gag_ and many other grotesquely large ones.), and many other items. Hermione's bags were straining at the seams, and looked like they were about to rip open at any moment.  
  
Feeling as if his arms were about to fall off, Harry looked around the ice cream parlor desperatlely, searching for a place to drop his items, when he heard a familiar voice call out," Hey, Harry! Hermione!" Harry's head shot up and he looked around, setting his bags down quickly on the ground beside him. A tall, gangly red-headed, freckled, and very familiar person came into view, holding two ice cream cones. Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister by one year, popped her head over his shoulder and smiled brightly when she spotted Harry and Hermione. The twins Fred and George, identical in every way, had departed from the parlor just like Ron and Ginny had, and were now heading over to where Harry and Hermione were standing, in the outside area of the parlor, the sunshine warming them generously.  
  
" Pleasure to see you two again!" Fred greeted, coming over and thumping Harry on the back. He gave Hermone a hug.  
  
" Care for a Canary Cream?" George asked in greeting.  
  
Harry shook his head and Hermione giggled. They knew what the after-effects of the twins' Canary Creams could do to a person.  
  
" Fred! George! Come help me with these packages!" called Mrs. Weasley a distance away. The twins excused themselves and hurried off to fetch the bags for their mother. Now Ron was heading over to them, grinning madly from ear to ear. For a moment, the three of them just looked at each other, smiling stupidly. Harry felt like they were back at Hogwarts, hanging out in the common room. Then Ron set his ice cream cones on a vacant table besides them and he and Harry embraced like brothers. Ron gave Hermione a tight hug.   
  
" Fred! Don't spill those bags! _George!_ That's Ron's new wand, don't you dare touch it!"   
  
Harry looked behind him to see Mrs. Weasley hurrying towards them, a smile on her face. Harry smiled back and hugged Mrs. Weasley as she neared. She was like a mother to him, treating him as if he was her own son. Harry knew that was really something, since Mrs. Weasley had six sons _and_ a daughter.  
  
" Oh, Harry, how have you been? My, you've grown! And how spendidly, too!" she fussed, looking him up and down. She then turned to Hermione and, to Harry's, Hermione's and even Ron's great suprise, pulled her into a hug as well. " How are you my dear? You've gotten so pretty! I can't believe you two are getting married! I knew you were meant for each other."  
  
" H-hello, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replied back a little shakily, moments after they had broken apart. The three of them knew how Ron's mother had shunned her after reading about the fictional article the elusive Rita Skeeter had written in the _Daily Prophet_ about how Hermione was playing with Harry's and Viktor Krum's heart during their fourth year at Hogwarts. After Harry had explained to Mrs. Weasley that it wasn't true, she had grown warmer to Hermione, but not as warm as the greeting she had just given her. Mrs. Weasley now turned to greet Sirius and Narcissa, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked off a few feet apart from them, after stopping to greet Ginny a warm hello.   
  
" So!" Ron said happily, clapping Harry on the shoulder. " You two are getting married! Splendid!"  
  
" You'll be my best man, you know," Harry said automatically, smiling.  
  
Ron smiled back. " I'd be honored. I've already figured what to get you two for your wedding present, already! Aren't you proud? See Hermione, I'm planning ahead!"  
  
" What are you planning on getting us, Ron?" Hermione asked curiously. " Even though you don't need to, of course," she added sincerely.  
  
Ron turned to Harry and winked, smiling broadly. " A house-elf! Isn't that a great idea? I mean, considering the slob Harry is..you won't be able to clean up after him, Herm. A house-elf would be _perfect_!"  
  
Harry couldn't hold in his laughter as Hermione gave their friend an irritated,"_ Ron!_ " She still felt very strongly about the mistreatment of house-elves, and that fact made it even funnier. Ron started laughing, falling into Harry and the two of them held each other by the shoulders, trying to hold themselves up. Soon Harry could hear Hermione giggling beside them, and a great feeling of happiness swept over him. Here he was with his three best friends, just like it had been from the first year to their sixth, and how it would be up to their seventh and many years after that. He could now look forward to going home during the holidays, and he was engaged to Hermione. And suddenly Harry felt something warm inside him, and he glanced up towards the sun, where it was beating it's rays down upon them. And he knew: his parents were smiling down at him, proud.   



	15. Thank You's

Hi, it's me again. So how did you like it? Well..here is the whole big thank you thingy. Every single person who reviewed*except for that meanie Jason* is listed here so if you reviewed..you should read it! (Oh and if you haven't, kindly do and I'll add you!)   
  
Pool - thanks for the comment!  
  
Lissy -thank you, that really made my day! i'm glad you enjoyed it   
  
lvylee03037 - thank you, and obviously you know now that Draco did re-enter but Harry's freaking out over his parents..well..wouldn't you, if you were in Harry's position? Maybe J.K. Rowling didn't write him to get all depressed over his parents that way..but you know how people who write say the characters did the writing? It's kinda like that..hehe..Harry just felt bad.  
  
spanky - aww, you're so sweet! and hyper too! lol  
  
~whiterose~ - thank you!  
  
chelsea (there's two chelsea's..and i'm not sure if they are the same person so i'm just going to put them both..or..she..in here..) - thank you so much! that really made me feel good about myself! and yeah there is a summer proposal..lol..you should have skimmed by it by now  
  
Anna - Thank you that's really nice of you to say!  
  
Dark Crystal - Wow to you too, lol  
  
Leah - Thanks so much, and I never knew Harry could get that depressed either. I guess it just happened while I wrote. I'm glad she's what you imagined! I figured she was pretty much like that. And thanks again. I really appreciate it!  
  
DarkAngel007766 - You're right..ahhhh..Hermione's eyes _are_ brown! I'm a dork! Oh well..let's just say she got colored contacts, okay? Lol..thanks for telling me and thanks for the comments.  
  
baskalek - i e-mailed you already but i'll thank you again here. i seriously don't think i'm better than j.k..but if you think so, lol! But thank you so much!!  
  
Siu Saki - Thank you and aww..I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break your perfect impression of Draco! LoL..  
  
Vikkey - you were like one of the first people to review! thanks so much! i'm glad you think so!  
  
HH - thanks and chapter six is already up!  
  
Sarah - Thanks so much and it's okay if you didn't review before at least you did!  
  
Megan - Thanks!  
  
Stark-Raving-Loony - Yeah well Harry does propose to Hermione..and I don't really like D/H either.  
  
Cristina, Hermione, Jan, and H/Hr fan - thank you guys so, so much!  
  
Polgara la Fae - thank you but that story..Draco Dormiens wasn't mine. Summer Proposal was like a story that to me, happened after that story. Draco Dormiens is one of my fav fanfiction stories actually, but it's not mine  
  
Wolf's Eyes - Thank you..and yes, well..you know how Hermione is, she's always loyal..and she and Harry love each other so much..a minute probably mattered to her a lot. Sorry if I didn't write Draco as the Knight on the White Horse but..to me, he's pretty bad.  
  
ouhed - yeah, lol  
  
Dom - um..okay thanks  
  
HarrysGirl- Thank you yes, it is my first Harry Potter story..Draco Dormiens is not mine.   
  
Taylor - Thank you and don't worry..H/D won't happen in this story. And yeah I know..mean Draco for doing that to him, but don't worry again I won't let Harry commit suicide. I'll watch him = ]  
  
Hermione - Thanks so much! That was really sweet!  
  
VIHPF5 - yeah, you guessed right! lol go u! thank you!!!!  
  
Emily - yeah! lol  
  



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